The Dark Titans
by AnimeMaster24
Summary: Raven finally begins to develop feelings for Beast Boy, but during a mission the green hero is stranded in an alternate universe where corrupted superheroes rule the world. Will he ever return home? Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited Crossover
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Ultimate Enemy**

Foreword: Well I didn't quite finish my last major Teen Titans and Justice League crossover, but I thought up an original idea for the Titans inspired by the events in Justice League Unlimited and decided to see what I could with it. It's a sequel to my last story, but a brief overview of the previous story is summarized at the beginning of this story, and it's NOT necessary to read the other story at all because this one is different to the point where it isn't influenced by the previous one at all. (I hope that made sense)

Don't worry if you're not a Justice League fan, because true to my word this is a Titans fanfiction story, and a continuation of the animated series, only mixed with the DC Animated Universe in an attempt to expand the relative small Titans universe. In truth the creators of both shows were planning on connecting them together, but didn't get the chance.

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos.

Raven was always a very complicated individual when it came time to matters of emotion, but as long as they had been together she had felt a certain sense of tranquility among her friends. It was probably safe to say that they were not the same five teenagers who had joined forces five years ago to save Jump City from the Gordanian threat, but their friendship had withstood the test of time. In truth it had been several years since the defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil and for four years the founding Titans had gone separate ways to discover themselves.

During this span Robin adopted a new alias known as Nightwing and spent several years in solitude, devoting his life to training in the martial arts. The former boy wonder then returned to Gotham City to aide Batman and his old teammates for a large portion of time. Beast Boy went back to the Doom Patrol to spend some time with his adopted family, the other two members of their former team proved even more ambitious.

They too had journeyed alone for the greater part of several years, but found new employment under a much more powerful organization than the Teen Titans had ever been. Following the expansion of the Justice League to include many of the world's greatest heroes, Cyborg and Starfire accepted Superman's invitation without hesitation and joined together with the dozens of others to form the Justice League Unlimited.

Raven had nowhere to turn to, and wandered place to place without destination for most of this time. Alone and unsure of her life, the young sorceress did not seek out new comrades, but after a few years passed without event, but one day something happened that she had never expected. One day a cloaked man approached her with the offer to teach her how to utilize new types of magic that she had never before used.

Naturally she spurned his offer at first, having rarely been offered the hand of friendship during her life, but the strange individual spoke comfort to her weary mind. He agreed to open his home to her as long as she required shelter, and with time she grudgingly accepted his gesture. The cloaked man was none other than Doctor Fate, a famous and powerful magician and one of the more prominent affiliates of the Justice League.

Meeting the wizard and his wife was a big step, and per the conditions of her arrangement, Raven had eventually agreed to become his apprentice. Under the tutelage of Doctor Fate, she learned amazing new feats of magic, but the day came when trouble would bring her back to her old friends once more.

Months passed before she reluctantly accepted Superman's offer to join the League, but disaster struck soon afterwards when Slade returned with a legion of the world's most powerful super villains at his command. Having gathered the remnants of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society, the masked madman had resurrected the old organization under his own leadership. Needless to say that his new associates were reluctant to trust another leader after Lex Luthor's plans almost got them all killed, but Slade had revived their broken ambitions and recruited dozens of more villains to bolster their ranks.

Despite the atrocities created by this new group, the league had been triumphant during the final clash between both opposing teams, and Slade had once again disappeared without a trace. Imagining their longtime enemy at large was truly a disturbing prospect to say the least, but many of his cohorts were captured and jailed in the process, making his escape seem less significant.

Raven however was not as optimistic as many of her fellow leaguers. The former Titans new how dangerous an opponent that Slade really was. He could have killed them so many times, but had always enjoyed their attempt to defeat him so much that he spared them out of amusement. He was known in the world of villains as the most efficient killer alive, a title truly befitting of his alias… Deathstroke… …

The blue-clad sorceress sighed as she these thoughts floated through her mind, and with a wave of her hand she opened a vortex and deposited her book into a pocket dimension of her own creation. She had actually learned this trick from Doctor Fate, and found it useful for any number of things. The special tear that the spell created could hold large amount of objects, and if necessary she could call them back at will. It was more convenient than carrying her possessions around by hand, especially the twenty of so spell books that she studied in her free time.

With a flick of her wrist, Raven closed the fissure above her head and attempted to relax. It had been a while since she had been inside of her old room, and very little had changed during her absence. Titans Tower held a lot of memories for them, and it was only very recently that the five friends had moved back in. Her eyes remained unfocused as she gazed at the ceiling, but for some reason she felt her thoughts returning to Beast Boy.

The green knucklehead had done a lot of growing up during their time apart. His voice was noticeably deeper than before, and he towered over her whenever they were in the same room together. Yes he seemed much more mature in a number of ways, but despite the changes in his appearance and voice, his sense of humor remained almost exactly the same as it had been during their first meeting years ago. There were moments when she secretly enjoyed his jokes, but she knew that Beast Boy would never let her live it down if she were ever tactless enough to admit it out loud.

She attempted to relax again, but a familiar crackling noise sounded on her communicator. "We're receiving an urgent message from the Watchtower right now." Cyborg's voice echoed through the earpiece. "The Martian personally requested that everyone is present to receive this information."

Raven sat up and shuffled towards the door, as she pressed the button on her communicator. "I'm already on my way. Over and out…"

Increasing her speed to a stride, she exited her room and traversed a handful of corridors as she headed towards the main room of their headquarters. The tower was actually quite large for the most part, but her room was rather close to her destination and in a matter of moments she had arrived in the primary living space.

It was rather different than it had been several years prior, when large couches and creature comforts had filled the room's specious interior. Ever since they re-commissioned Titans Tower for hero use, they had changed a number of things around to fit their new job as members of the Justice League.

Cyborg personally moved the television and videogame systems into a room set aside for entertainment. Now the main floor was filled with large computers and monitors that they used for super hero work, and the sofa replaced by a circular counsel table where the five former Titans would meet to discuss their work. The one thing that seemed unchanged was the glass window that comprised the entire back wall of the room, and it still gave them a magnificent as view as ever of the city below.

As Raven entered the room, she found her friends already seated around the table, and immediately took her place between Beast Boy and Nightwing. The green changeling grinned in her direction, but for some reason his expression irked her and she forced a weak smile out of courtesy.

"What is this about?" she questioned in an uncharacteristically blunt fashion.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Well to be completely honest, I have no idea… Batman contacted Dick a little while ago and told him to get us together in this room for something important."

"He didn't specify, but something tells me that whatever is going on has him visibly worried." Nightwing replied with a small nod. "He didn't say much else, but I've known him for a long time, and he sounded urgent."

The green shape-shifter wrapped his knuckles against the table to garner their attention. "After what Slade did last year, I was hoping we would get a break from high-level missions. I'm seriously beginning to miss the days when all we needed to do was stop Dr. Light from robbing a local bank."

"When you become a hero, life is never that simple…" Nightwing answered.

Starfire nodded her head gravely. "If there is one thing that I have learned during my stay on this planet, it is that evil never truly disappears forever."

"The light and darkness are locked in an endless battle with each another, but in the end there can be no total victory on either side." Raven explained with a dark expression. "Good and evil are two sides of the same coin, and one cannot exist without the other."

At this assertion a strange silence fell over the room. Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and the other seemed stared into their own laps as if they were stricken with a sudden and wave of grief. Raven personally took the moment to reflect on her teacher's words, but her pattern of thought was disrupted as Cyborg stood up from his seat.

"You know, I gotta admit that what you said makes a lot of sense." The half-metal hero exclaimed.

"That reminds me of how long Mento and the others fought against the Brotherhood of Evil." Beast Boy added in. "No matter how many times we hammered those guys, the Brain and his talking monkey always crawled back to their hole to come up with another crazy plan to rule the world."

The changeling's fists tightened in anger as he thought of the atrocities committed by the Doom Patrol's archenemies, and the glass of water in his hand shattered under his unusually firm grip, but this uncharacteristic display of rage did not go unnoticed by his companions. The young sorceress sitting to his left placed a hand on his shoulder, and the effect was immediate. Beast Boy's muscles seemed to relax under her warm touch, and with a calm expression he glanced over at his old friend. Raven recoiled her hand with an awkward expression and folded her hands as if she were meditating.

Beast Boy wiped up the spill with his napkin and frowned. "Sorry about the mess… I just saw red."

"I understand how you feel, but that doesn't mean that what we do has no meaning." Raven replied sagely. "Our job is to save as many lives as possible, so that this world will be safe for current and future generations. That is what it means to be a hero…"

Cyborg folded his hands on the table and nodded in agreement. "Like Superman once said, we have to be prepared to make sacrifices."

Before any of them could resume the conversation, the screen in from of the table flickered to reveal the intimidating form of J'onn J'onzz. The legendary hero was over six feet tall with dark green skin and piercing red eyes. He wore blue pants with matching boots and a large draped over his back. The cloak was held in place by a pair of red straps fastened to his shoulders, which formed an x-shaped pattern as they crossed in the center of his muscular chest.

Of the five younger heroes, Cyborg had spent the most time with the Justice League's director due to the fact that he worked maintenance aboard the space station during his working hours. If there was one thing that he learned from that time, it was how resolute the Martian could be when he issued mission orders. Although stubborn at times, he was brutally efficient when it came time to properly coordinating the dozens of missions that the league carried out on a regular basis.

"Watch Tower to Titans Tower… … Is the signal coming in clearly?" The Martian relayed.

"Loud and clear, boss man." The half robot hero replied.

A long silence fell once again as the occupants of the room waited for him to speak again. The green-skinned changeling leaned forward slightly, his mouth twisting into an anxious line. Raven remained as stoic as usual as she stared up at the monitor, waiting patiently for the alien hero to begin the meeting.

"The information that I am about the give you is important, so I request that you pay close attention and do not interrupt until I relay all of the details we have gathered." He explained calmly.

Nightwing merely raised an eyebrow in curiosity and seemed to ignore the alien's request. "What kind of mission are we talking about? Most of us are just part timers, in the league, so we figured that you would leave us to our own endeavors after we put an end to Slade's plans last year."

The Martian seemed to take his words as a show of defiance, but merely continued on as if he had not heard. "Batman recommended you five for this mission because you are the closest to the source of the trouble. There is a large source of unstable energy located somewhere in the center of Jump City, and we require you to investigate."

"If it directly effects us then I suppose we have no choice." The former boy wonder acknowledged.

Murmurs of agreement swept down the table, as the former Titans deliberated. Raven exchanged a sideways glance at Nightwing, while Beast Boy shrugged wit a bemused expression. Starfire and their former leader seemed deeply worried by the prospect. J'onn J'onzz observed them for a few moments before speaking again.

"You team is the most familiar with the area to begin with, but in the case that you cannot pinpoint the anomaly in question, Mr. Terrific has prepared a map for you to follow." The green-skinned alien explained.

J'onn stepped aside to reveal a tall man with a design similar to the letter T on his face. Although much less intimidating than the Martian, Mr. Terrific served as the assistant mission coordinator for the Justice League and often filled in for his superior when needed. Reaching into his pocket, the man withdrew a remote and pressed a small sequence of buttons to transmit the files to the computer in Titans Tower.

"In a moment the map I just downloaded into your system should appear." Mr. Terrific began. "It should show give you an idea of where the energy signal is coming from, but once you arrive in the general vicinity, the rest of you guys will have to finish the job personally."

The robotic hero nodded from his seat. "I'll take care of it right away."

A wire shot out of Cyborg's arm as he linked his own system with the tower's computer. His mechanical eye flashed a few times as he located the image that had just been sent, and quickly activated the room's secondary monitor. After a few moments of silence, a secret panel on the opposite wall swung open to reveal another screen, which flickered a few times before bringing up a satellite picture of Jump City with a single section of the city flashing red.

Nightwing stood up from his seat and observed the information for a moment before confirming his suspicions. "Looks like this source of power is coming from the main square in the center of the business district."

"Yeah, I remember we used to head down there to hang out when we were kids…" Beast Boy leaned forward slightly. "Too bad a lot of the restaurants closed down in the last few years, they had the best veggie pizza in the world."

"We shouldn't lose focus of the main objective. " the former boy wonder replied grimly before turning to face the main monitor once more. "All right J'onn, tell us what you know about this energy disturbance so far in case we can do something to plan ahead."

The Martian resumed his explanation as the main screen focused back onto him. "Unfortunately we have been unable to fully analyze the energy signature. The Atom observed what little data the instruments aboard the Watchtower were able to record and concluded that it is a manmade anomaly that could be used for dangerous purposes."

"Do you guys have any specifics yet? Why would someone want to build a power generator like that in the middle of the city, and what could they possibly do with something like that?" Cyborg took his seat one more.

J'onn J'onzz merely shook his head in response. "The circumstances surrounding this situation are currently unknown, but the massive output of power coming from this location are interfering with our teleporters, and we are currently unable to send anyone in to assist you in this regard."

"I'm sending you whatever information we have on the energy readings." Mr. Terrific replied as a series of graphs and charts appeared on the opposite screen. "All of the information that we have been able to gather about the anomaly is contained within this file."

Although he was far from being en expert, Beast Boy had seen similar readings once when the Brain triggered his own inventions. The power levels that such sinister devices consumed were immense. After observing the information on the second monitor, the others seemed to have similar reactions. Cyborg seemed to recover first and quickly shifted his attention back towards the Martian.

The half robot's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I can't believe that someone would build something so unstable in the middle of the city. I'm not sure if even the Watch Tower's system uses that much energy to sustain it's orbit around the earth."

"My guess is that whoever's responsible for this mess isn't exactly stable in the head if you know what I mean?" Beast Boy sighed with a dismal groan and turned to their former leader for an answer. "You used to deal with psychopaths all the time, Nightwing. You think anyone you know is responsible for this?"

The young vigilante seemed just as stumped as his companions. "A lot of the guys I used to fight back in Gotham City had major issues, but I doubt that any single one of them would have the ambition to try something this large scale."

"We believe that the culprit may be a Jump City rogue." J'onn J'onzz commented, forcing the room's attention back onto himself.

"In either case we can't afford to wait for reinforcements." Nightwing interjected. "I have a strange feeling that whoever is behind this isn't trying to do us any favors."

"If you run into any hostile factors, we give you the authorization to do whatever you must to resolve this problem." The Martian replied solemnly. "I am certain that you are all experienced enough to understand this. Handle the situation as you see fit, but I highly recommend you so not stray from the boundaries of the law."

The former boy wonder nodded slowly before speaking again. "We know what to do…"

J'onn J'onzz copied the younger hero's gesture. "Very well then, I leave this matter in your hands. If the situation proves to be too dangerous then you are to retreat and report back as soon as possible with your observations."

"I think we can handle it." Nightwing sounded slightly insulted by the alien's insinuations that they would not be able to resolve the matter on their own, but instead of reacting turned to his friends for help. "I say we head down there right now and take care of this situation before someone gets hurt."

Starfire did not hesitate at all. "The notion is seconded." She added firmly.

"Report back as soon as possible." Seemingly satisfied with their reaction, the Martian merely gave them one last look of approval. "Watch Tower out…"

The large screen flickered as the image vanished, leaving the five heroes sitting alone once more. A series of murmurs came from the remaining Titans, but it only took them a few seconds to come to an agreement. Standing up once more, Dick Grayson stood up from his seat and swept towards the exit without looking back. One by one the others rose from their seats and followed him through the automatic door.

As they entered the hallways beyond, the former Titans picked up speed as the girls took flight. Nightwing followed after his friends with a serious expression as they entered the mission room to prepare for battle. While the two female heroes and their green-skinned companion seemed more than ready, Cyborg stopped to do some new adjustments to his weapons arm. To the surprise of his friends, their team leader reached up and removed his mask, replacing it with a pair of dark sunglasses seconds later.

"Dude, what are you doing." Beast Boy questioned with an odd expression. " For someone like me it doesn't make much sense for me to wear the mask, but I thought you were the kind of hero who always kept his identity a secret."

Starfire nodded in agreement. "Surely this is not a good idea."

The former boy wonder seemingly ignored them for the moment as he pulled a large coat onto his shoulders that covered his entire body, making certain to button down the front. Seconds later he tucked his mask away into the folds of his pockets. Normally he wouldn't expose his secret identity while on duty, but this time he had an ulterior motive in mind.

Seeing the puzzle expressions worn by his friends, the former boy wonder grimaced. "Over the years I've learned that charging into battle without proper planning doesn't always produce the best results."

The alien princess looked as though she was about to protest, but Raven understood his notion and agreed completely. "It actually makes sense when you consider that we're heading into a populated area in broad daylight. If we go into town in uniform, it might place the enemy on high alert, and could increase the change that innocent bystanders might be harmed."

"That's what I was trying to say… We'll go in disguise so whoever's behind this won't know we're in the area." Nightwing reiterated to the others.

With a reluctant sigh, Starfire retrieved a jacket and sweater from the nearby closet and slipped into them as best she could. Although the cold weather hardly had any affect on her, she knew that humans liked to wear heavier clothing in the winter and immediately began squirming into the incognito clothing in an attempt to hide her blatantly revealing Tamaranean garb. The sweater was made out of wool, but she did her best to ignore the irritating sensation caused by the material rubbing against her skin.

"Were it not for the mission, I would not be wearing this terribly itchy clothing." The alien princess grumbled to herself.

Cyborg pressed a button on his arm, creating a holographic disguise over his metallic body. "At least you guys don't have to use special equipment to blend in."

"It's been awhile since then, but didn't you use something like that when you infiltrated Hive Academy?" Beats Boy questioned.

His half robot friend nodded as he adjusted the device he had built into his arm, a grumpy expression appearing on his face. Fortunately the remaining Titans seemed much less reluctant to follow through with the plan. Raven snapped her fingers causing her blue cloak to enlarged and envelop her entire body like a giant curtain. A few flashes of light shown forth from the folds of her garment, which fell away seconds later to reveal a significantly different appearance than before. While she often preferred not to conceal her own appearance, magic made the job much easier then before.

Raven's skin was no longer pale and the marking on her forehead seemed to have vanished as well. Her hair was now slightly longer than before and had taken on a light brown color that complimented her violet eyes. Her clothing had also changed, and in the place of her black leotard and blue cloak she wore a semi-formal winter dress and a jacket that hung loosely from her shoulders.

"Wow Rae, you look pretty good." Beast Boy commented casually.

Raven ran a finger though her hair. "I hope you aren't implying that there was something wrong with my appearance before."

The green changeling reddened slightly in embarrassment. "No, I just… Can't a guy just be nice once and awhile? Gee… … Sometimes it seems like there's no winning with you."

"Enough you guys, we've got other things to worry about right now." their team leader interrupted.

"I don't think it's smart for us to leave here in disguise." The half robot replied warily. "We should use the secret passages leading out of this place in case the bad guy is waiting for us to make a move."

Nightwing acknowledged his teammate's concern and reacted accordingly. After crossing the room, he punched in a small series of numbers into his old Titans communicator, causing a small section of wall to slide open, revealing a series of hidden exits connected to underground tunnels leading into the city. They had been built for emergency use, but he guessed that now was as good a time as ever.

After glancing at his teammates, their leader headed towards the nearest passage with his alien girlfriend trailing behind. "We'll meet at the old pizza shop if you guys can't pinpoint the source of the energy within thirty minutes."

Once Cyborg exited the room after them, the two remaining heroes exchanged quick glances until Beast Boy spoke up. "You mind if I hitchhike?" the shape shifter asked his partner.

Raven turned her back on him and followed her teammates through the hidden exit. "I don't know exactly what you mean, but I'm fine with it as long as you don't do anything inappropriate."

Leaping into the air, Beast Boy transformed into a lizard and landed directly in her pocket. She cast a shadow of a smile as the reptilian nuisance poked its head out and playfully shoved him back down knowing that he could protest against her actions while cycling through his animal transformations. Satisfied with the green changeling's uncharacteristic silence, she followed after the others and closed the wall panel behind her with a wave of her hand.

Once the Titans exited the tunnel, they split up into teams and headed into the business district in the center of the city that they had called home for many years. Starfire and Nightwing headed towards the western sector, leaving their remaining teammates to the search the eastern half of the area that the Martian had given them to search.

It took them a fair span of time to reach their destination by foot, but once they entered the main vicinity, the others glanced up at Cyborg almost expectantly. He took out an ordinary looking cell phone and held it up as if searching for a signal. In reality the robotic hero was attempting to look as casual as possible as he scanned the area. They continued on in silence as the group's technical expert continued his attempts to pinpoint the exact location.

After a few minutes, the shape-shifting hero left his friend's pocket and crawled onto her shoulder, transforming into a green parrot moments later. "What do you think?" the bird squawked. "Now I can speak without giving us away."

"Parrots just make noise, but they really have no idea what they're talking about." Raven replied

Cyborg smirked at the assertion. "That pretty much describes him most of the time, so it pretty much fits either way."

The green bird clicked its beak with disdain. "Even after all these years you guys still think I'm stupid, huh?"

Raven's expression softened slightly. "We each have our strong points, and I would say that your power lies in resourcefulness. You also seem to know enough about animals to fight reasonably well in any number of different forms. That's also an important quality to have in battle."

"Thanks guys…" the parrot sitting on her shoulder squawked loudly, causing his friend to wince in irritation.

"We're just goofing on you, bird-brain." The robotic hero explained. "Can't say that you were ever good at dealing with the technical stuff, but you were always a valuable member of the team in your own way."

"Speaking of which, is that phone in your hand some kind of tracking device?" Raven inquired. "Looks like something you invented yourself."

"I wouldn't use anything else…" Cyborg said with a sense of pride. "I grabbed it from the equipment room before we left the tower earlier. It's small, but this little monster could find an MP3 Player in a snowstorm."

Beast Boy seemed to smile at the thought. "Too bad you didn't have that gizmo five years ago when I dropped mine somewhere in the park. It would have saved me a lot of trouble considering how I spent all afternoon as a dog and still didn't find it."

The robotic hero covered his ears for a second. "In any case I think that the parrot disguise might not seem so convincing if you keep talking so much."

"You know I might be able to use my powers to find the answers we're looking for." The young sorceress interjected.

"By all means go ahead and give it a shot." Cyborg replied challengingly.

"The sooner we finish this job, the better…" Raven paused for a second and help out her hands as if she were feeling the air around her and softly chanted. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

Doctor Fate had recently been teaching her minor forms of foresight. Although hardly and expert in the field himself, the wizard had given her enough practice so that she could see minor events happening in other places even though her abilities were limited by distance and time. As she spoke, a series of images flashed through her mind like a slide show, and amidst the flurry of pictures came a familiar sight. Her eyes fluttered open and widened as if she had been hit with a sudden realization.

She stumbled backwards as the realization hit her, only to be caught seconds later by her shape-shifting friend. Positioning himself behind her, the parrot morphed back into human form and caught her second before she hit the ground. Raven looked up at her rescuer and blushed when she realized how close his face from his face, but quickly snapped out of the moment as she remembered what had just happened.

"Whoa, are you all right? What happened?" he asked curiously.

Cyborg lowered his detection device and turned around to face her. "What did you see?"

She pushed him away and moved into a standing position, her face looking unusually pale even though she had cast a spell over herself to appear less conspicuous than usual. "The vision was fragmented, but I saw a strange device… … Then I saw an imagine of the shopping center… and the old pizza restaurant."

The metallic hero struck a thinking pose for a moment before readjusting his phone-like device, but before anyone else could add anything to the mystery, a giant beam of light shot up from the center of town several miles away. The three heroes stood paralyzed in awe for a second as they saw pieces of debris scattering around like confetti in the wind, but the sheer force of the following impacts quickly alerted them to the seriousness of the situation. With a giant explosion, several of the surrounding buildings burst into flame and exploded into clouds of ash, the remains of the destroyed structures sinking into the ground like sinking ships into the sea.

"Likes like you guys didn't need to go through all the trouble." Beast Boy shouted. "Like Raven predicted, that explosion just came from where the old mall used to be."

With a press of a button, Cyborg undid his hologram projector and reappeared in metal form. "Let's get going!"

Raven nodded in agreement and waved her hand in a circular pattern, instantaneously revealing her true appearance as the concealment spell completely dissolved. Reaching over her shoulders, she pulled her hood back over her face and took the skies, taking her friends with her with a platform of dark magic. The green changeling transformed into a large pterodactyl and chose to travel by his own means, easily keeping up with Raven as they headed towards the source of the chaos. When they arrived at the scene, the damage done to the city was immense.

Several overturned cars littered the ground along with the smoldering remains of buildings that had been destroyed by the sheer force of the explosion. Jets of water were bursting from the streets where fire hydrants had been as a handful of survivors attempted to flee the destruction by any means necessary. The three heroes breathed a sigh of relief as groups of medics arrived on the scene to tend to handle the rescue, because they were tasked with finding and stopping whoever was responsible.

As they observed the path of destruction from the safety of sky, a large series of machines rose from the ground where the mall had been standing moments ago. The towers were each several stories tall equipped with gigantic instruments that appeared to be oversized satellite dishes. The new arrived seemed to stir up a panic in the crowds of bystanders as a large metal platform rose from the center of the destroyed shopping center. Standing atop it was familiar figure that the Titans knew all too well. Granted his appearance had changed since their last meeting, but that did not stop them from recognizing him.

"Is that Control Freak?" Raven shouted loudly.

Her half robot friend looked positively shocked to see that their old nemesis was behind this incident, but even more surprised by his drastically altered appearance. The nerdy villain's face had not changed since their last encounter, but his body appeared large and muscular and a large black cape adorned his shoulders. Raven slowly hovered closer to the ground to get a better look, but found it unnecessary as the villain approached them instead.

A large stream of fire shot from the enemy's heals as his flew over to greet his adversaries, and his face cracked into a devilish smile. "Ah, well if it isn't the Titans… No longer teenagers as I can see, but that doesn't mean I'll find it any less entertaining to destroy you!"

They quickly realized that the villain was about seven feet tall up close and quickly realized that the muscled physique and ability to fly using jets was the result of some kind of robotic suit that Control Freak was wearing over his body.

"I see you haven't changed!" Cyborg replied with a sneer. "I see you spent your free time making that oversized robot costume."

"Surely you jest… This if far more than a costume, and what you see before you is my life's work." The villain laughed like a madman before turning to reveal the gigantic structures that had rise out of the ground. "Enjoy your last breath, Titan!"

The arms of Control Freak's robotic suit transformed into reveal a pair of missile launchers. He fired a series of projectiles at his old adversaries, but the three heroes were prepared. Raven seized her friend by the shoulder and pulled him through a portal of swirling energies, the two of them appearing on the ground seconds later. The green changeling darted away in pterodactyl form to avoid the oncoming blast and quickly joined his friends standing amongst the ruins of the mall.

Fired a blast of energy at their enemy, but he flew out of the way to avoid it and landed on the metal platform once again. Raven followed up the attack by adding in some of her magical blasts, but the nerdy villain's robotic suit generated a large barrier that seemed to absorb the oncoming assault.

"Do you honestly think I haven't planned a proper counter for each of your abilities." Control Freak bellowed obnoxiously. "I spent months hiding underground planning this little excursion, but now the time has come for you all to bear witness to my master plan."

The three heroes watched in horror as the five towers sticking out of the ground crackled with electricity, the staggering amount of power levels it consumed easily causing a series of rolling blackouts throughout the entire region. The currents of energy channeled their way towards the tips of the towers, and in a matter of moments they erupted with giant beams of light, which combined together in the center of the perimeter created by the structures.

Beast Boy screamed, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head in surprise. "Whoa… What in the world is that?"

"I don't know, but the energy readings are way off the charts!" Cyborg took a step backwards as he observed the gigantic collaboration of machines that their longtime nemesis had created.

The robotic hero standing beside him punched in a sequence of buttons on his machine, but the colossal amounts of electricity quickly overwhelmed his detector, causing it to explode in his hand. He grunted in annoyance as his prized invention burst into flames and tossed away the remains of the broken cell phone, looking significantly concerned with what few readings he had been able to pick up before the system overload.

"What could Control Freak possibly do with that kind of power?" Raven mused out loud.

"I'm glad you asked, my disagreeable little witch." The enemy answered. "By maximizing the power my television remote and adding in my wormhole generator, I will create a powerful enough to shatter the space-time continuum. Thus dragging the earth into my television world were my power will be virtually limitless."

Seconds later the swirling mass of energy began to enlarge, as if the sky were being ripped apart as they watched, but a loud rumbling noise quickly stole the attention of everyone present. One of the beams of power issuing from the towers flickered and stopped as if the power source had just been removed, and then the structure began to crumble to the ground. The Titans turned towards the deteriorating mechanism just in time to see a giant green explosion destroy the base supports. The top smashed open shortly after, as Starfire came crashing through the self-made exit.

Control Freak screamed in fury as the anomaly's growth began to slow down. "You pests, I'll exterminate you for this."

Nightwing soared onto the scene using his special cape as a sort of glider and landed gracefully on the ground in front of his teammates, the Tamaranean princess touching down shortly after. "Sorry we're late, but I had to go back to base and fetch the proper equipment for a job this big."

"Did you guys see that disturbance when Star struck the power channelers? It looks like those giant towers are the weak point…" Cyborg alerted the others. "If we aim for the power source we can still stop him from sucking the world into his messed up television world."

"You heard him, aim everything you've got at the towers, and once the power goes out we can deal with Control Freak!" Nightwing shouted before turning to the magically inclined member of the group. "Raven, do you think you can stop that giant anomaly from devouring the city?"

Raven hesitated for a moment. "I might be able to delay it, but I don't know if I'm powerful enough to stop it alone."

"Fine, just do what you can." The young vigilante nodded in acceptance before motioning towards he other members of the team. "All right guys… Titans Go!"

Note to Readers: Not much new in this chapter, but you might have guessed that Control Freak's insane actions as just a catalyst for the real story, which is coming up soon. Hope you enjoyed what I've written so far, and I would appreciate some reviews and maybe even some ideas. You'll find I can be open to applying good ideas if you come up with any that I like and submit them. If you like this story so far, check out my other works for Teen Titans.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Gateway to Destruction**

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos.

The five heroes reacted at once, running full pelt towards the enemy's devices as they prepared to launch another assault. Starfire kicked off the ground and took flight, seizing her boyfriend by the arm and taking her with him as they headed for the main platform. Cyborg and Beast Boy's paths diverged as they headed in opposite directions to dismantle the power source, both of them charging at the remaining towers and attacking in any way that they could.

Raven watched her friends for a moment before taking to skies and quickly headed towards the open void high above the battle below. Although she was not keen to touch the swirling energies, the young sorceress closed her eyes and used her abilities to analyze the anomaly from a safe distance, but closer inspection only warranted her fear and doubt. Having studied a similar principle when she learned to create small pocket dimension to store and recall objects, she knew many of the guiding principles behind multi-dimensional travel. Due to the sheer size and composition of the vortex, she sensed that it was unstable.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she chanted loudly, causing a large blast of dark magic to cascade from her fingertips.

Using her mental abilities to manipulate the energies, the young sorceress expanded the power to cover a larger area and created a giant barrier around Control Freak's man-made anomaly. With great effort she shrunk her barrier down around the target and pressed her own energy against the edges of the expanding vortex in an attempt to hamper its growth. As she struggled to delay the inevitable, her friends split up and immediately took to the offensive.

The Tamaranean Princess went to work at once hammering away at the force field protecting their nemesis with her enhanced strength, but when the approach seemed ineffective she bombarded the invisible wall with a stream of green energy from her hands and eyes. The attacks flashed like fire as they scattered on contact with the force field, but the barrier still held up against her assault.

Charging his energy cannon, Cyborg loaded a series of explosives into his arm and began to bombard his target structure with everything he could muster.

Beast Boy followed up this first attack by flying into the air as a bird and moving so that he was hovering directly above the offending tower. The tiny bird moved higher into the air to increase altitude before morphing into a mighty hawk that circled around twice before moving into a dive. With one final move he transformed into a giant whale and smashed into the target with full force, effectively leveling the greater part of the giant tower.

In the meantime the robotic Titan was finishing off his own target. Having used a series of explosive devices he made himself to weaken crucial points of the structure, Cyborg easily leveled the it with a well-placed series of blasts from his arm cannon. He displayed a satisfied expression before moving onto the next generator and quickly began to repeat the process.

Their leader had watched the battle carefully, and quickly realized that Starfire's attacks were actually proving ineffective against Control Freak's protective field. Fortunately the others seemed to be doing well so far, but a quick glance at their opponent's smug expression made him wonder if he had something else up his sleeve. The villain smirked as if he had anticipated this thought, and withdrew his television remote.

"You've done well Titans, but you won't win so easily." Control Freak pressed the button on his control. "Let's see how you like it when I even the odds…"

No sooner had he said this that five monsters materialized in front of each hero. Facing Nightwing and Starfire was a large bipedal monster with long white fur covering its entire body and piercing red eyes. The young vigilante took a defensive stance, but the ape-like beast roared and brought its fists down in an animalistic fury. Using his well-honed instincts, the former boy wonder barely managed to avoid getting crushed by his much larger opponent.

At the same time Beast Boy and Cyborg found themselves face to face with a pair of large behemoths. The first was a large robotic monstrosity over twenty feet tall with laser cannons jutting out from all directions mounted on a pair of bulky robotic legs. The second was about seven feet tall and covered in what appeared to be some kind of overgrowth like vines, and smelled like it has just crawled out of a swamp.

The fourth monster summoned by Control Freak bore a demonic appearance and sported a pair of bat-like wings. Its face was completely covered in a thick black fur, and its claws and feet ended in sharp talons.

"I'd like you guys to meet some friends of mine! They've been dying to meet you…" the villain seemed to pull a microphone out of mid air as he spoke. "People of Jump City, facing off against the former Teen Titans tonight are my favorite movie monsters of all time. I'm proud to welcome the monster from _Attack of the Abominable Snow Beast_, MK-14 from _Space Wars: Episode 7_, the vine beast he underrated thriller _Thing from the Evil Lagoon_, and give it up for the demonic spirit from the _Night of Horrors_."

The group's leader scowled in annoyance before turning to his partner. "Keep focusing on the barrier, I'll deal with the monster." He warned.

Starfire nodded in agreement and ignited her hands and eyes in a fury of green energy as she turned back towards the barrier. The Tamaranean was concerned for his safety, but she had grown to trust the young vigilante over time and did not usually question his judgment in dangerous situations. Even after the all these years that the team had spent apart, her belief in his leadership skills had not wavered.

Without warning the large Yeti standing before them raised its arms and slammed the ground at his feet. The former boy wonder slid beneath the monster's legs to avoid the blow, his eyes quickly noting the man-sized crater where he had been standing moments earlier. Seizing the opening created by his first move, Nightwing leapt into the air and let loose a fierce volley of punches and kicks in an attempt to injure the beast, but to no avail.

The white-furred beast spun around and swatted him away with its gargantuan hand, giving off the impression that he found the series of strikes to be more of a nuisance than anything else. Raising his arm into the air, the creature brought his second hand down moments later in a renewed attempt to flatten the much smaller combatant, but his adversary ducked underneath the swing and somersaulted backwards.

With a growl of anger, Nightwing spun around in mid-air and sent a fistful of birdarangs at the Yeti. The projectiles struck their target, sticking into the monster like a bunch of small daggers, but the beast's thick fur and armor-like flesh caused the objects to fall harmlessly onto the ground. With an inhuman roar the monster began to charge them again, but his human opponent had anticipated this approach and prepared for the occasion.

Nightwing had strewn several explosives around the monster's feet during their brief clash, having used the birdarangs as a distraction as he set down the explosives. Before the monster could attack, a giant series of explosions sounded at its feet, and it vanished with a cry of agony. Normally the young vigilante was against using such a tactic against the enemy, but Control Freak's creations were nothing more than images brought to life from movies and television.

On the other side of the battlefield, the other two boys found destroying the machine's power sources much more difficult while brawling with their respective opponents. A giant robot with a barrel-shaped body and a helmet-like head attacked with a series of electric snakes sticking out from several parts of its body. The mechanical monstrosity crushed everything within reach, the electric feedback from its many limbs causing mass damage as the objects it touched were instantly fried.

It's many arms flexed and trashed like the tentacles of an octopus, forcing the robotic hero to fight defensively. Cyborg dove behind piles of debris as he ran, occasionally pausing between spurts to fire back a blast of energy from his arm cannon, but the attacks seemed to bounce off of the enemy's chrome armor.

Beast Boy cried out in terror as a twelve-feet tall humanoid composed entire of plant life emerged from the ground several meters in front of him. It's eyes glowed red and the noises that he assumed were its way of communicating sounded like heavy gravel scraping against asphalt. The green-skinned hero transformed into an elephant and charged towards the enemy, but soon found himself wrapped in foliage that prevented him from proceeding further.

The vine beast growled again as a patch of vines burst from the ground and wrapped around his entire body. The green changeling attempted to creak free by cycling through transformations into differing animals, but no matter what he transformed into, the binds that held him tightened to keep him in one place. Thinking quickly, Beast Boy morphed into an elephant again, and quickly changed into a small bird, barely managing to escape the miniature jungle.

In the skies above their heads Raven could see the battle waging below, but despite her desire to help, she found herself having troubles of her own. Turning away from the portal that she had been attempting to close, the young sorceress barely managed to avoid the gargoyle monster's talon-like claws. With a swirl of her cloak she darted sideways and appeared several meters away, retaliating with a blast of energy from her hand. The demonic creature recoiled in pain as it felt the full force of her attack, but to her surprise it bore no signs of injury.

Raven retreated even farther backwards as the monster prepared to attack, this time raising her arms and infusing several destroyed objects and uprooted trees with her demonic energy. Utilizing her signature chant, she sent the storm of debris flying towards the enemy in an attempt to stop it from coming any closer to her. The gargoyle let out a fierce roar as it swung its claws in a ferocious manner, slicing several of the offending objects to shreds.

After a moment of two, the young sorceress realized that her current strategy was not working and quickly switched tactics by moving her arms toward to increase the speed of her attacks. The debris trapped within Raven's power pulsed violently with her dark magic and began to circle around the flying monster for a few seconds before rushing towards their target. The winged demon screeched as it was bombarded from all directions by debris moving at blinding speeds and was soon buried alive.

Raven lowered her hands with a sigh of relief and relaxed her powers for the moment, feeling slightly exhausted after exerting so much effort into a single attack. The young sorceress floated in midair and caught her own breath before resuming her work on the strange anomaly in the sky, but a loud rumbling from her previous position quickly diverted her attention.

Spinning around to find the source of the noise, she could see her adversary emerging from underneath the stack and reacted accordingly. Targeting several destroyed cars littering the streets, Raven slammed them into the monster's body to delay the beast and quickly thought of another plan.

"Infernio-Incinarae!" The blue-clad witch chanted three times while clapping her hands together.

A plume of magical fire erupted from her hands towards the pile of debris, bathing the debris in its magnificent glow. The gargoyle-like movie monster let out a screech of rage as the cars on top of its body exploded. The creature had little time to react to the assault and was hit with the full force of the explosion, but instead of bursting into flames the monster vanished into a flash of static as soon as the blast engulfed its body, as if it were an image on a television screen.

"Even with my powers amplified you guys were still able to fight back… Most impressive…" Control Freak mused loudly.

Nightwing wore a satisfied expression as he looked up at their longtime adversary. "If this is the extent of your new powers, then I'm actually disappointed that you couldn't put up a better fight."

Cyborg nodded in agreement from across the battlefield. "I figured that someone with so much free time would have come up with something better than this. You built yourself a robotic suit, but other than that it looks like you've been resorting to the same old delay tricks…"

To their surprise, Control Freak burst out into a chorus of obnoxious laughter. "You idiotic heroes… I've only been toying with you until now. Let's see how you guys like being completely outnumbered! Take this!"

Pressing the button on his remote control, the nerdy villain caused the four movie monsters from before to reappear. "Now replicate!" With a flick of his wrist, the creatures began to replicate, first splitting into two, and in a matter of seconds the four original monsters had split into a dozens of copies.

Beast Boy and Cyborg stood back to back as the mob of creatures began to close in, both heroes looking equally spooked by the sudden duplication. "Oh man… It was bad enough when there were only four guys! What'll we do now?" the green shape shifter shouted.

Before either of them could resume the conversation, the robotic monsters set off in hot pursuit firing a series of laser shots at the pair of heroes. The green changeling dove out of reach of one blast and into the path of another, only to be pulled out of the way by his robotic companion. Seizing him by the collar of his outfit, Cyborg fled in the opposite direction with his friend in toe. Tired of being dragged along like a rag doll, Beast Boy morphed into a bug and slid between the cracks in the street to avoid detection for the time being.

"Dang… at times like this I wish I could do that." The half robot complained out loud as he saw his friend make a timely escape.

The chase continued for several minutes before he managed to lose his attackers. Now hiding between a pile of rubbish and the remains of a brick wall, Cyborg covered himself with some of the surrounding debris and consented to watch as the enemy units probed the area for any sign of him. He held his breath as the movie monsters drew closer and did not breath again until he was sure that they had moved on. Letting out a deep breath, the robotic hero barely managed to stifle a scream as a large shape emerged beside him.

"Are you trying to get us caught?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry if I snuck up on you…"

The robotic hero seemed to ignore the apology as he sidled along the brick wall to his back. When he had reached the end, he observed the battlefield carefully, quickly noting the pattern in the enemy's formation. "I'm not sure if this'll work, but if you can distract those monsters for a few seconds, I might be able to trash another one of the towers."

"Not that I'm scared, but what's going to stop those monsters from kicking your butt once they finish me off." The green hero replied nervously.

"Do you honestly think I haven't thought about that?" Cyborg looked slightly insulted at the prospect. "It looked like they were made to destroy us before, but now that we're just watching it seems like Control Freak is more concerned about the towers."

Beast Boy scratched his head and nodded. "Yeah, I was wondering why some of them weren't trying to tear us apart yet. It seems like only half of those things are hunting us…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking…" the robotic hero replied. "Did you see those satellite attachments on the towers? I'm betting that those steel eyesores also carry the electronic single from his remote control in addition to powering that giant vortex generator."

"I get it…" A look of dawning realization flashed across his green face. "If I keep the movie monstrosities busy for a few seconds, you destroy the towers and then they all go poof."

Cyborg peaked out from behind their cover and readied his weapon arm. "Once I get within range of the target, I'll give the signal and you'll rush out and keep those horror-movie rejects busy as long as possible. Are you ready for this?"

His companion nodded eagerly, crunching his left fist into the palm of his right hand. "Don't worry about me, dude. I was born ready for this."

The robotic hero exchanged a small nod with his best friend before heading back onto the battlefield. Leaving the safety of his previous hiding spot, he used stealth in order to avoid detection, quickly slipping behind piles of debris and the remains of buildings so that the prowling beasts would not notice him. He continued this pattern for several minutes before getting close enough to the towers to risk revealing his position.

Seizing the small metallic device from a secret compartment in his left arm, Cyborg whispered the word "Now!" into his old Titans link.

Across the battlefield, the green changeling received his partner's message and tucked his own communicator in his pocket. He wracked his brain for a second to devise a plan and decided to transform into an animal large enough to take on so many enemies at once. Although he rarely ever used the form due to its inconveniently large size in close quarters combat, it was actually going to come in handy for a change.

Seconds later, the gigantic form of a long-necked brontosaurus emerged onto the battlefield, immediately startling his friends and enemies alike. The vastness of his new form dwarfed the enemy's movie monsters and granted him incredible strength all in one. Charging with the ferocity of a rogue elephant, the green dinosaur flattened several enemies with a swing of his tail, causing the flying beasts guarding the closest tower to gravitate towards his position.

The gargoyle-like monsters struck in waves as the formation surrounded him and sunk their claws into his flesh, and with some work managed to push him onto his side. The dinosaur roared in pain as the creatures slashed away at his newly exposed stomach area, the pain causing him to transform back into human form. The green changeling closed his eyes as his attackers began to close the gap, but smashed into each other as they lunged to finish their prey. Swirling energies surrounded his body seconds before the monsters could touch him, and he vanished through the darkness like magic.

The green changeling opened his eyes seconds later to discover himself floating in midair on a platform of magical energy. Surprised by this sudden development, he almost fell off in surprise, but a strange force seized him by the back of his shirt and steadied him as if an invisible hand had prevented his fall. Looking up, he saw Raven hovering several feet away, and a sense of relied washed over him.

Although her face bore little sign of emotion, something about her eyes seemed to indicate otherwise. "Are you all right…" She interrogated.

Beast Boy let out a strained groan as the wounds he had sustained from the previous bout began to pulse with pain. "I'm fine…" he added unconvincingly. The small trickles of blood running down his face and stomach indicated that he was lying, and he was unable to lie under the scrutiny of his friend's gaze. "They got me, but nothing vital was hit." he admitted.

"All right then… Just lay here and relax until I can close your wounds." The sternness of her voice held more power than the loudest order, and he complied.

Looking around at the battlefield, he was proud to see that his distraction had not been for nothing. Several of Control Freak's towers were engulfed with a series of explosions and seconds later began crumbling to the ground, closely followed by Cyborg's victory "Booyah!" Many of the movie monster summoned by their adversary vanished following the destruction of the power sources.

Having witnessed this phenomenon en masse, it didn't take Raven long to remember the limitation on Control Freak's powers. For all his arrogant boasting the nerdy villain could not create real monsters. Everything that he brought to life with his remote control was merely a pale imitation of something from television, and once destroyed would vanish into nothingness… Now she knew how to stop him.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The spell caster uprooted several of the towers using her magic, reducing them to unrecognizable scraps of metal as her fury fueled the power of her spells.

Without the energy provided by the towers, Control Freak could only watch as his army of monsters vanished into thin air. The small box in his hand exploded with a shower of sparks, prompting him to cast aside the overloaded device, but this was only the beginning of his worries. The villain opened his mouth to shout, but the sight of his protective barrier flickering seemed to have struck him dumb for the moment. He glanced upwards just in time to notice the gigantic portal above his head beginning to close slowly.

A loud crashing noise filled his ears, but he met an unpleasant surprise as he turned around to find the source of the commotion. The weakened force field surrounding him had been shattered by Starfire's enhanced strength, and bounding towards him at full speed was the leader of the former Teen Titans. The former boy wonder used an incredible display of acrobatics, landing on the raised platform where the villain stood.

"You'll pay for this!" Control Freak screamed.

His adversary dodged the clumsily aim punch with an effortless flare and landed out of reach. "Not today couch potato…"

Control Freak's robotic suit protected most of his body, but Nightwing maneuvered himself into graceful leap, vaulting himself into the air with his fighting stick. Upon his descent, he dropkicked his unruly opponent's unprotected face, sending him hurtling off the side of the platform. The villain activated the rocket boosters on his suit in order to slow his descent, but was immediately caught in midair by the Tamaranean princess as she landed in flying punch in his midsection.

"Take this…" The alien girl's blow sent its target careening into ground with excessive force, shattering his robotic armor and creating a large crater in the ground where he landed.

Nightwing was the first to approach the defeated villain as he lay in the pit, and was quickly joined by Starfire and Cyborg as they formed a perimeter around him. The Tamaranean touched down and began walking towards the sight of impact, closely followed by Cyborg who approached from the opposite direction. Dick Grayson bore down upon their longtime nemesis with a dark expression, his face displaying small signs of triumph now that they had neutralized his threat.

"Now it's finished!" the former boy wonder stated bluntly.

Starfire nodded in agreement. "The Control Freak is still a dork, yes?"

"Looks like you're still just as lazy as ever…" Cyborg glanced down at the wreckage and beheld the villain's portly form now that his suit had been destroyed. "Apparently after five years you never took a single trip to the gym. Now that you don't have any tricks left, it's time that we sent you back to jail."

"Who said I didn't have any tricks left?" The injured villain sat upright so that he could see the looks on his enemies' faces.

Control Freak withdrew a small button from his inner pockets. Reacting with machine-like reflexes, Nightwing disarmed their opponent with a well-placed birdarang. The enemy dropped his button with an angry scowl, but by the time the projectile hit its target, it was too late. Control Freak had already pressed the button and now burst out laughing once again, seemingly ignorant of the wounds he had sustained in battle mere moments ago.

The Tamaranean princess ignited her hands in an aggressive manner as Nightwing reached down and lifted the villain so that they were standing face to face. "What did you do?" he shouted.

"Although you guys destroyed my power source, I used the remainder of the energy to start up the self-destruct sequence." Control Freak displayed a satisfied smirk. "You may have defeated me, but once the energy core of my spatial disruptor explodes, it'll destroy out about a third of this city."

The alien princess gasped in horror at the thought. "This cannot be… Surely you are not serious!"

"You've finally lost it!" Cyborg shouted incredulously.

Nightwing tossed the villain onto the streets with a heated glare. "I've fought against scum like you my entire life, but even the Joker wouldn't have been willing to blow up the city while he was in the main vicinity."

Control Freak slapped his own face as he realized what he had done, his confident smile vanishing instantaneously. "Doh! That's not good… Maybe I should have thought this through before pressing the button."

"You think?" the robotic hero screamed. "The question is how do we stop this self-destruct sequence."

The villain only gulped nervously. "I… uh… … I never thought of that part. I didn't even think I would have to use it to begin with."

Turning his back to the villain, Nightwing pressed the button on his earpiece. "Raven, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear… What's up?" came her reply.

"Control Freak just set the main core of his machine to explode, and we have no idea how to stop it. Do you have some kind of solution?" he asked.

Raven glided around frantically in search of what her leader was talking about. Glancing down where the villain had been standing, she could see the main reactor smoking and sparks shooting out of the ground where it stood. Silently wishing she had more time to think, the blue-clad magician wracked her brain once more in an attempt to formulate a solution to the problem and quickly devised a plan.

"Well?" Nightwing shouted in response to her silence.

"The energy readings that Cyborg came out with look pretty high, but if I use my full power I might be able to contain the explosion for a short time." She relayed hesitantly. "I might not be able to stop it indefinitely considering how much energy the explosion would unleash, but in any case it's going to take a lot of magic."

Their team leader paused briefly before responding. "If it's our only choice then my opinion really has no bearing on the situation. Do what you can…"

"Will do…" Raven responded quickly. Stowing away her communicator, the young sorceress focused a large amount of magical energy around the building-sized machine below and moved into a meditative position as she floated above it.

She turned to her green-skinned companion lying on top of her platform. He had sustained some serious injuries after being attacked by Control Freak's legion of movie monsters, but she was thankful that he had survived.

Taking a deep breath in preparation, Raven began muttering incantations of amazing complexity as she recited the most advanced barrier spell she could think of. The barrier glowed bright gold rather than black energy created by the demon magic that she had inherited from her father. Doctor Fate's teachings had served her well in the past, as they were doing now. Several more walls of light materialized around her target as she added more layers to the protective dome, causing the outers walls to expand as smaller barriers formed within.

Her teammates watched in awe as she erected the barriers, all of them impressed with the growth of her magical abilities. Before any of them could comment, the machine nestled in the center of her glowing barriers flashed brightly with an intense light of it's own before exploding with a loud crackle of energy. The heroes silently prayed that the defensive spell would hold as they watched the smoke and five expand against the surface if the first dome.

Nightwing bit his lower lip as the explosion shattered through a few layers of Raven's spell and continued to expand further. The villain at his feet squealed at the sight of the contained explosion and covered his head with his arms like a frightened child, but the former Titans did not look away.

No longer willing to take any risks, Raven shot forward like a bullet and pressed her hands up against the outermost barrier, pouring every bit of energy she could muster into the effort of maintaining the shield. The strain on her magical aura proved even more intense than before as she felt the spell draining her body like a battery in order to stand against the explosion within, but she refused to give in.

Several minutes passed before the explosion subsided, but by then she felt as if every bit of power had been siphoned from her being. With a weary sigh, the young sorceress dispersed her spell and slowly descended towards the ground. The smoke from within expanded at an alarming rate, darkening the skies in a layer of dingy smog, but she had managed to stop the explosion from harming anyone and even managed to stop the backlash.

When she was within a yards of the pavement, Cyborg caught her limp form in his arms. "You did good, Rae."

She looked around with a weary gaze, but her eyes widened slightly as she saw a green shape flailing across the sky like a bird with broken wings. "Beast Boy…" she exclaimed in terror.

The other three heroes whipped around frantically before catching sight of the changeling. They found him just in time to see his lifeless body hurtled towards the rapidly closing rift that Control Freak had created. In a matter of moments he had vanished through the flux of energies and disappeared into their depths.

Starfire jetted into the air and attempted to follow him into the strange anomaly, but it had completely disappeared. With a cry of despair, the young alien returned to her friends and expressed her apology with a solemn bow. "I am sorry… had I reacted more quickly, our friend might not have been taken."

"No it's my fault!" Raven muttered weakly. "I… I should never have… … left him unattended in his wounded state… …" The blue-clad magician struggled against the darkness as she felt her own consciousness slipping away, but seconds later she had passed out.

Cyborg gently placed her unconscious form into a sitting position and turned his attention towards the others. "I think she'll be all right after some rest, but right now we have some more urgent matters to attend to."

A brief glance at his friends told Nightwing that they were just as bothered by Beast Boy's disappearance as he was, and for a moment it felt as though none of them could give him the answer. The former boy wonder looked deeply unsettled by what had happened and instead turned his frustration on their enemy. Without a moment of hesitation, he seized Control Freak by the collar of his shirt and into a standing position.

"Where did that anomaly take Beast Boy…" the young vigilante tightened his hold around he portly villain's jugular. "Lie to us, and I just might lose control."

Control Freak coughed as he felt the hero's grip intensify, and answered in an unusually high-pitched voice. "I… I don't really know?"

"Liar…" Starfire burst out angrily, her eyes glowing green as she advanced on the corned villain. "It was you who first opened that dreadful portal, so surely you must know where our friend has been taken!"

"I swear I don't know!" the nerdy bad guy answered through his threatening chokehold. "I didn't set the machine to any coordinates, so there's no way that I could know where he is. Beast Boy could be in any place, in any time, and in any dimension…"

Nightwing let out a disgruntled growl as he shoved the overweight villain onto the street and raised his metal fighting stick. "You had your chance…" he hissed.

Before he could finish the strike, Cyborg had seized him by the wrist, resulting in a brief struggle between the two men before the robotic hero decided that it was safe to release him. "Don't do anything you'll regret later." He warned. "I know how you feel, but smacking this dude around won't do us any good."

"Sorry…" The young vigilante seemed to agree, but his expression remained unchanged. "Still, I wonder if he knows something else?"

Cyborg glanced down at the frightened super villain with disgust. "Believe it or not, I think he's telling the truth. From what little I know about the type of technology he was using, his testimony makes sense. If he didn't set specifics while that vortex was opening, then who really knows where BB ended up?"

"If that is the case, then how are we going to find out where our companion has gone?" Starfire questioned.

Pushing the portly villain onto his stomach, the group's leader made certain to handcuff Control Freak before rejoining the conversation. "We'll take him back to the Watchtower so J'onn can have a look inside his head. If he's hiding any secrets, we'll know soon enough."

"Calling Watchtower… we've dealt with the situation on earth and captured the man responsible for the problem." Cyborg said into his communicator. "The anomaly has been neutralized, so there should be no problem with the system. Requesting pickup now."

"Situation acknowledged… We've just locked onto your position. Please standby... …" The Martian's voice answered.

The Tamaranean nodded quickly and slung Raven's limp arm over her shoulder so that she was supporting her friend. As the former Titans readied themselves for transport along their captive, Raven's eyes cracked open just enough for her to catch sight of the battlefield, but the portal was nowhere to be seen. In less than second, the view changed and they were standing on the teleporter inside of the Watchtower's main room.

"Damn it Beast Boy… … Where did you go…"She cursed to herself.

Meanwhile

As the Titans searched for answers, there missing teammate stirred. Letting out an animalistic growl, the green changeling managed to open his eyes. A deep pain coursed through his body where he had been slashed, but even worse was a sense of terror that came with his recovering awareness. The smell of garbage filled his senses as full consciousness returned, and it was then that he realized that he was no longer floating on Raven's platform above Jump City.

"Eww… Dude, what's that terrible stench?" he grumbled through the feeling of his aching body.

With a considerable amount of effort, Beast Boy pushed over the barrel of trash he had been leaning against and forced himself to stand up. A quick look around told him that he was in an alleyway in some kind of city, but it was strange that he would be in such a place. The injuries he had sustained during the previous fight were still present. The last thing that he remembered was that he had lost consciousness towards the end of the battle against Control Freak, and the next thing he woke up here.

A rat ran by his foot, but he shrugged off the encounter and decided that sitting around in the dark wasn't going to get him any answers. He walked towards the source of the nearest street light and stepped onto the sidewalk, silently biting back the pain of his wounds as he continued off into the light.

The city streets were unusually empty indicating that it was very late at night, but no matter how dark or light it was he was certain that the surroundings were familiar. After several minutes of pacing around and catching sight of several familiar buildings, he realized that he was in the central district of Jump City, but the recent battle with Control Freak had destroyed most of the places he recognized and yet here they were completely intact.

Beast Boy silently wondered if he was losing his mind, but before he could say anything else, he found himself blinded by a spotlight to the face. Squinting through the intense light, he made out the outlines of several people, all of which were wearing the same uniforms. Each trooper was garbed in black outfits with badges pinned to their chests and sniper equipment strapped over their shoulders. The men closest to him had drawn their rifles and were pointing them directly at him in a hostile manner.

"Freeze!" A large man over six feet tall with neatly trimmed hair and a thick blonde mustache took a few steps away from the group and shouted. "Put your hands in the air!"

Note to Readers: Well here's the second installment, but since I've received so few hits and far less reviews, I might discontinue this story. Once again, the main focus of the story has only just started to come into the picture, so I hope for some future support. A special thanks to RavenFortuna for dropping me some support. If anyone has any ideas they would like to contribute to my story, I am open to suggestions.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A New Frontier**

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos.

Even in human form, Beast Boy's senses were particularly acute. Even though the light was shining directly in his eyes, he could sense that the enemy had him completely surrounded and outflanked from all directions. A quickly glance over his shoulder revealed the presence of several more officers, each of which was armed and ready to strike.

"Put your hands in the air!" The man standing closest to him shouted.

With a defeated expression, the green changeling immediately complied with his orders and moved his arms in a position of surrender, allowing the advancing forces to approach him. Rather than tell him what he had done, the leader of the opposing group moved into a position behind him and cuffed his hands. The green changeling opened his mouth to ask a question but was quickly beaten from behind as a second officer closed in and struck him in the back of the head with a bat.

Wriggling around on the streets, he struggled in an attempt to escape, but the injuries he had sustained from the previous battle made it difficult to use his powers properly. On top of that he didn't want to arouse any more abuse by transforming in front of these violent law officials, especially considering that his green skin was probably one of the reasons they saw him as a suspicious individual to begin with. Even this small display of violence had given him the impression that these were not ordinary police he was dealing with.

Beast Boy screamed in pain as he was kicked in the shin by a heavy boot and pushed onto his back, his eyes filling with disdain as he saw the pitiless faces of his captors. "What's your problem? Did I do something wrong?" he pleaded.

The leader of the squadron sneered as he stepped forward. "No one is allowed on the streets after 9 PM, and yet we find you wandering around after curfew and at midnight no less."

"Are you people nuts? I've lived here for a long time and there's never been any type of curfew in Jump City!" the green shape shifter replied incredulously.

His response was met with mixed reactions from the guards, many of which chose to say nothing while others broke out into a chorus of laughter. Their commanding officer merely scowled in annoyance as he raised a hand to put an end to his subordinates' laughter, all of which fell silent in his presence as if they had been struck dumb by his gesture. He approached the green-skinned prisoner and seized him by the throat, eliciting a squeal of pain as he lifted him to eye level.

"Listen up you little green freak!" he hissed angrily into the boy's ear. "I don't know what kind of rock you crawled out from under, but the curfew applies to every civilian without exception. Who do you think you are to ignore it?"

"I don't know what crawled up your butt this morning, but you really are crazy." Beast Boy replied defiantly.

Without warning, the man holding his throat shoved him against the wall of a building with deliberate force. His captor turned away pitilessly and slid a walkie-talkie from the strap hanging off of his belt. "We've detained a suspicious character wandering around after curfew… Looks like there'll be one more for the detention center tonight."

The green changeling glanced up at the back of the man's head and groaned in agony as several of the wounds that Raven's magic had healed bust open once more His cries of pain remained unheard as a roar of a large police van drowned him out, quickly followed by the screech of a siren. Before he could question the scenario, two uniformed officers seized him by the arms and dragged him low to the ground so that his feet were scrapping against the sidewalk, before unceremoniously tossing him into the back of the vehicle.

"If you try to escape during transit we shoot to kill." One of the men explained. "Just stay back there and keep quiet, or your trip to the detention center could very easily become a ride to the morgue."

Beast Boy looked horrorstruck by the very thought, but it only caused his gaze to harden. " I don't know what kind of murderous hack came up with these policies, but whoever they are deserves to be committed? Where's the justice in this?"

One of the guards drew out a pistol and fired a warning shot into the air to silence their prisoner. "We are allies of justice, and what our superiors say is law!" the man bellowed before slamming the doors shut.

The Titan cringed slightly as the motion shook the entire vehicle, but was caught off guard by a giant rumbling noise followed by a quick jerk that sent his head flying into the wall behind him. It only took him a moment to realize that the van had taken off, but the speed at which they were traveling was rather alarming, even for a place like Jump City. Of course, thinking back to his first glance at the city streets a few minutes ago, he only now realized how strangely empty they were. He guessed that the nightly curfew they described limited the number of people roving the streets at night to authorize personnel only.

He felt bothered by these new discoveries, but his injuries seemed insignificant compared to the strange surroundings he had entered. A quick glance out the window told him that they were still in his old hometown, but things were so much different than he remembered. He remembered floating into the sky above the battle on Raven's energy platforms, and one giant flash of light later he had woken up in an ally. His mind raced with dozens of questions as he pondered the possibilities.

Perhaps he had been thrown into the future, but from what he had seen so far the thought repulsed him and he silently hoped that it was not the case. A moment later he wondered if this was all a dream, but the intense pain of his wounds quickly disputed that theory as quickly as it had come into his mind.

Without warning, the green shape shifter punched the floor of the van so hard that his fist began to bleed. It was as if nothing made sense anymore, and it frustrated him to no end. Were it not for his years spent as a hero, he might have broken down at that very moment. If this place really was Jump City, then where were his friends, and why was the local law enforcement so brutally aggressive?

Thinking about his friends prompted him to look out the enforced glass window again, but his eyes widened in shock as the police van crossed over a bridge leading to a familiar island. Up ahead was Titans Tower, but it was much different then the place he had called home. The bridge was certainly a new feature that he had not remembered, but the tower seemed much less inviting for a number of reasons.

It seemed as though someone had turned the former hero's home into some kind of government complex, surrounded by several other buildings and a giant wall. The fortress-like structure was surrounded by a series of metal fences, all of which were topped with barbwire, which curled around the top to prevent any possible escape for those trapped within its confines. The prison van stopped several times as it passed deeper into the facility, and the guards at each entry inspected the vehicle before granting authorization into the inner sanctum.

Several minutes passed in silence as the former Titan sat alone, only taking brief glances through the tiny window to catch a glimpse at what was going on outside. No matter what the scenario was, the idea that his home had become a prison was something he found truly unsettling. The fact remained that he wasn't entirely sure what had happened during the battle with Control Freak, but something told him that this was not the same city he had known for so many years.

He silently wondered what had happened to his friends if their old base was being used as a prison complex. His stomach lurched at the idea, but for the most part he tried to retain a sense of calm in the face of adversity. It was truly depressing to imagine what was going on, but he still wanted to know the full story behind what was going on here and decided that allowing himself to be captured was the best course of action until he was able to recover his strength.

Perhaps he could try transforming now, but in his wounded state it would be difficult to remain on the run. The green skin was a dead giveaway for the authorities if they realized he was missing, and from what he had seen so far it was obvious that they would not ignore his disappearance. Yes, he was sure that running was not an option at the moment. Perhaps the best way to find out the truth behind the madness was to allow himself to enter the belly of the beast.

Several minutes later the van came to an abrupt halt, quickly pulling him from his less than comforting thoughts. The doors burst open as several more guards entered the compartment and seized the prisoner by his arms. Beast Boy winced as they wrenched his battered body into a standing position once more and practically marched him through the exit and out into the prison yard. He looked up in alarm as a pair of giant metal gates slammed shut, but was quickly blinded as one of the searchlights lining the walls settled on him.

"Where are we going?" the hero questioned his captors.

The uniformed guard to his right gave his arm an uncomfortable tug, eliciting a dull laugh from his companion. "You're being taken in to the station for some standard protocol and then you'll be escorted to the prison hall with the other new inmates for a routine assembly. After that you go to a holding cell for the night to await the warden's decision on what kind of punishment you will receive."

Beast Boy looked up at the former Titans Tower that loomed above them, but from the way they were moving it was clear that he was being led to one of the other buildings. After swallowing the lump in his throat, he managed to ask another question that had been bothering him.

"So dude… What's that big T-shaped tower for anyway?" he attempted to sound as though he had never been here before.

"Nosy bastard, aren't you?" His keeper looked annoyed by that the green-skinned man was so intent on asking questions, but decided against punishing him. "The central tower is where the warden's lodgings and workplace are located. We also keep the most dangerous prisoners in the lower levels."

"Oh…" the changeling answered rather lamely. He wanted desperately to know more, but the expression on the guard's face told him that pushing any more would be asking for trouble.

The pair of escorts pushed him through the doors of a rather ordinary-looking brick building slightly reminiscent of a local police station, marching him through the dingy halls in a hasty fashion. The rest of the process went by fairly quickly as the officers took his picture and issued him a number for organization purposes. Once they were finished, his cuffs were removed and he was stripped down to his underwear as they searched him for anything he might have been carrying.

With an irritated groan, the green changeling put on the numbered orange uniform that they had issued him. It was much like the ones he had seen prisoners wearing, but never once in all of his years did he imagine that he would one day be sporting the vibrant garb for himself. Having been tied to a chair by the guards, he watched as the sentinels searched the pockets of his Doom Patrol uniform.

They pulled out several things, including snacks and a survival knife that Nightwing had given him for his birthday. Pieces of candy fell onto the floor as they turned out the pockets, sending the small stash of sweets scattering in the process. A few more objects fell from the opposite pocket, but the last thing to hit the floor was his old Teen Titans Communicator.

One of the guards reached onto the ground and picked up the device to get a better look at it, but upon closer observation his already serious expression hardened considerably. Without warning, the man strode across the room and kicked over the chair holding their guest, causing him to topple over onto the ground. Beast Boy landed on the floor with a strained grunt, staring up at his attacker like a turtle that had been flipped onto it's back.

"What was that for?" he screamed, barely resisting the temptation to use his powers The outburst was rewarded with a kick to the shins, causing him to grimace in pain as two more guards pushed the chair he was seated into back onto four legs.

The first attacker bore down with a heated expression and bent over so they were facing each other again. "Where did you get this?" the officer shouted, practically shoving the communicator into the prisoner's face.

"It's just something my friends gave me to keep in touch. There's no need to throw a conniption about it!" Beast Boy waved his hands in front of himself protectively as he spoke.

His interrogator's scowl only deepened at his assertion. "Only the highest commanders of the state are allowed to carry these specialized communication devices. Your face is unfamiliar to us, therefore you must have stolen this device from a designated official…"

"I… wait… … I didn't steal anything!" Beast Boy reasoned, looking thoroughly insulted by their assertion.

Despite his attempts to reason with them, his captor continued his own explanation as if he had not been interrupted. "You must surely realize the magnitude of the situation. If you managed to get your hands on an elite commander's communicator, it is likely that you raised a hand against them in order to do it. This treasonous act that you have committed is a high crime against the state… It is punishable by death."

"That's completely insane… I'm telling you guys the truth, why won't you believe me?" the former Titan screamed.

"Silence!" the officer cut him off. "There will be no criminal hearing for the likes of you. When our superior hears of this foul play, I have no doubt that he will want to dispose of your pitiful life personally."

The changeling's green complexion paled as he listened to the larger man's words. "What kind of messed up reality is this? Where am I? Who are you guys? What the hell is going on?" a stream of questions burst from his mouth as the feeling of confusion welling up in his chest intensified.

Signs of panic were etched into his face as the strain he felt was released in a flurry of frustration. All of these questions exploded within in a frenzied jumble, but a quick glance around quickly silenced his tongue once more. Another pair of guards burst through the door and surrounded him, and before he could react one of them thumped the back of his skull with a nightstick, driving him onto the floor as he crumpled under the strain. He struggled to stand, but the officer raised a pistol to his head, stopping him cold.

His former interrogator took out a walkie-talkie and held it up to the side of his face before switching it on. "Fetch the warden… A man we recently detained has proven difficult and is currently denying claims of treason against the state, even though irrefutable evidence was discovered on his person during mandatory questioning. We require an immediate decision be made concerning his sentence."

Beads of sweat ran down the green man's forehead as sweltering pain coursed through his very being, the injuries he had worked so hard to ignore combined with the abuse he had had received upon regaining consciousness were finally catching up to him. Unable to resist, Beast Boy relaxed his arms and fell into a docile position, looking as though he had just swallowed poison. Although he hoped that his gesture would calm the advancing enemies, the act earned him a boot to the spine, causing him to double over in pain once more.

Apparently satisfied with their work, the reinforcements exchanged quick salute with their commanding officer and left the room without another word. The green changeling watched them go through his half-closed eyes as two of the remaining guards seized him by the arms and threw him back into the chair he had been sitting on moments ago. His consciousness began to slip away again, but he was quickly brought back into focus by the sound of unusually heavy footsteps in the hallway. The remaining guards sprung into a salute as a towering figure burst through the door.

"You annoying little clowns had better have a good excuse for waking me up in the middle of the night." The warden shouted angrily.

While the officers seemed scared into silence, Beast Boy was struck dumb by the appearance of their apparent superior. The metallic plating covering his body was a darker shade of gray, but there was not mistaking it. Despite the slight differences in his appearance, the man standing before him was his half-robot friend! Although the green-skinned hero was initially unable to speak, the metal man's eye fell on him, and for a moment they merely stared at each other with blank expressions.

A veil of silence fell for a few seconds, but the tension in the air was so thick that the guards did not dare to speak up. Seconds later, their superior raised his leg and kicked the door, forcing the entry shut with a wood splintering crash. The guards sunk back in fear as the lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling of the interrogation room flickered violently. Without so much as a single warning, the prison warden stomped across the room and seized Beast Boy by the front of his shirt.

"It's me, Beast Boy!" the hero protested frantically as he attempted to free himself from his friend's vice-like grip. Although he hoped this would clear up his predicament, he soon learned otherwise.

"Liar!" Cyborg's expression hardened to cold fury as his fingers closed around the prisoner's throat, eliciting a small cough from the green changeling. "I don't know who you think you are impersonating my best friend, but I do know this… You're gonna regret disgracing his memory once I'm done with you!"

The shape shifter's face paled again as he felt his air supply cut off. "I… I… … stop!" he stammered hoarsely.

It only took him a moment to realize that he had no other choice this time around. Concentrating his powers, he morphed into a tyrannosaurus rex, the sheer size of his transformation destroying the ceiling of the room in the process. He let out am mighty roar before stomping away in the direction of the wall, but was quickly halted by a several patrol cars as the police moved to stop the giant animal from escaping the prison.

Cyborg brushed himself off as he dug his way out of the rubble that had been the ceiling of the complex mere moments before. His eyes widening in shock as the green dinosaur fled across the grounds, but the spectacle was nothing he hadn't seen before. The only problem was that this scenario just didn't make any sense. His best friend had been murdered several years ago in a most heinous incident, so there was no way that he could be here. The idea that someone had been able to imitate the green changeling's appearance was one thing, but the fact that this so-called imposter was able to use his powers too was infinitely more unsettling.

"Calling all units… There is a shape shifting meta-human currently loose within the main prison yard. I want him detained immediately. Bring him to me alive!" The half-robot pressed the button on his arm as he spoke so that his words were heard on the prison's loudspeaker system.

As he relayed this announcement, several tanks began rolling in to execute the orders. The new arrivals were all heavily armored vehicles, all of which looked as though they belonged to the army and looked somewhat out of place in a prison yard. Beast Boy braced himself for the oncoming onslaught, but the missiles they fired burst open before impact, releasing a flurry of what appeared to be nets.

The capture devices wrapped around his dinosaur form, preventing him from moving to escape. He attempted to bite the ropes in order to escape, but his giant jaws were no match for whatever type of fiber the nets had been woven from. Desperate for release, he transformed into a fly and escaped through one of the openings, following up his first move by taking flight as a hawk. The green bird bolted through the air as it soared towards the outer walls of the prison yard, weaving back and forth to avoid the laser blasts and gunfire that came from below.

Down below, the robotic warden had personally joined the fray and was growing impatient with his incompetent lackeys. So many questions had sprung up after seeing this look-alike bearing Beast Boy's physical appearance use his shape shifting abilities. Even from what little he had seen, everything that the fleeing prisoner did reminded him of the friend he had lost. The bird was getting closer to the walls with every passing second, and yet he couldn't allow the prisoner to escape.

"All units advance forward!" he ordered the guards. "Prevent the target from escaping in any way possible, but if he dies whoever's responsible will have to answer to me!"

The men positioned at the prison walls flashed their spotlights into the air around the fleeing enemy, blinding the bird for a moment as their commanding officer took the time to execute his own plan. Opening a metal panel on his arm, Cyborg punched in an emergency sequence to activate the failsafe mechanism he had personally designed for the prison. The escaping hawk recoiled in pain as the outer walls of the prison projected a gigantic barrier, which surrounded the entire complex like a giant bubble that surrounded the entire landmass.

Seeing no other escape route, the green shape shifter felt a familiar sense of fatigue overwhelm his tired bones. He struggled to stay conscious, but his sudden impact with the prison's electronic force field had only made things worse. The bird let out a feeble screech as it plunged towards the ground, his wings as limp and lifeless as wet paper flapping in the air. Before his body made contact with the terrain, he managed to slow the descent just enough to land. It was far from a perfect touchdown, but at least he was still alive.

Looking around, the barely conscious hero realized that he was surrounded again, but was unable to resist. The outline of a large familiar figure could be seen through his rapidly blurring vision, but he was unable to object. Taking a step towards the silhouette, he stumbled once and fell face first into the mud, his mind finally giving into the powerful wave of exhaustion that had threatened to overtake him since the battle with Control Freak.

Cyborg observed his lifeless body for a few moments before beginning his procession through the crowd, causing the guards to moved aside in his presence. He pushed Beast Boy's form over with the end of his foot so that he was lying on his back and felt for a pulse before motioning to one of the officers.

"Get this man to infirmary at once. I want him taken to the closed ward and placed under constant supervision…" He waited for several minutes until men wearing white uniforms arrived on the scene to move the prisoner's body. "When he wakes up I plan to question him personally, so send word to me if there are any changes in his condition."

"Yes sir." They replied together. Once they had securely strapped him to the stretcher, the medics headed back towards the prison complex with their patient in tow.

The robotic warden turned his back on his other subordinates and headed back towards the T-shaped tower in the center of the complex, the burning questions that had entered his mind continued to pique his curiosity, but no matter how much he wanted the answers, there was no choice but for him to wait now. Something was certainly strange here, but some feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that one of the inmates he had in custody might be able to tell him more.

(Dimension 1) Meanwhile

Sitting in Doctor Fate's personal study. Raven tore through one book after another as she attempted to find a spell that would bring her shape-shifting friend back to her. The library was a magnificent treasure trove of magical knowledge, but today she did not have the time to enjoy it. Although she had been studying magic with the wizard for a while by now, the young sorceress had never been so intent on finding a particular spell before.

It made no sense to her that she was feeling this way, but the idea that one of her best friends could be anywhere right now made her stomach lurch. According to Control Freak's testimony, Beast Boy could be anywhere, any time, and in any place. Upon further interrogation he revealed that the portal had not been calibrated to target any particular specification, meaning that he might even have fallen into another dimension for all they knew. Her other friends were out searching for clue using more traditional methods, but she knew that their chances were slim. In reality that were probably no closer to finding the solution than she was, perhaps even further for that matter.

A while back she had placed a locator spell on her friends to find them in the case of an emergency, but her magic had not been able to detect his presence anywhere on earth. It seemed almost unnatural, but with the countless possibilities described by Control Freak, she had a burning feeling that Beast Boy was far beyond their reach.

"Another dead end… Damn it!" she scowled causing the book she held to ignite with her demonic energy and fly into the air.

Regaining control of her power she levitated the book into a stable position and placed it back onto the shelf from whence it came. Luckily she had managed to stop herself before she accidentally damaged the tome, especially considering how old and priceless the spell books in her mentor's collection really were. With an exasperated sigh, she settled into an armchair and took another volume from the top of another stack that she had assembled earlier.

Upon arrival she had assembled some data about trans-dimensional travel, yet had turned up absolutely nothing helpful so far. Such spells were often extremely complex, requiring rare ingredients and a significantly large amount of magic to perform. She was certainly talented, but the spells she had discovered so far were not very useful in regards to finding her friend. They did not know where he was, therefore she had no idea where to look even if she had the ability to get there.

Hours passed as she continued searching through her stash of books, but the longer she spent in the library, the stronger that sense of overwhelming hopelessness grew. No matter how many spells she found, none seemed to have the ability to resolve her problems. After placing a marker on the page of her last spell book, she stood up and swept from the room without saying anything. No words could express how she felt right now, but her frustration had spawned a fury so powerful that she would have fallen under Trigon's influence had it not been for his passing all those years ago.

Navigating the dark halls of Doctor Fate's Tower, the young sorceress entered the sitting room and collapsed onto the couch with an exasperated groan. After several minutes, she pushed herself into a sitting position stared into her lap. She silently wondered to herself where the others were right now, but it made her ill to know that they were doomed to failure no matter where they went. Her research had yet to reveal anything useful, and the locator spell she had cast was also completely worthless.

Descending into the darkness of her own thoughts, Raven did not notice a new presence enter the room. The man wore a blue garment and a gold cape that hung loosely over his shoulders, the collar giving him a distinguished appearance even among superheroes. The trademark golden helmet he wore concealed all of his facial features, making it harder to read his emotions, while also giving him an air of mystery.

Doctor Fate approached the young sorceress like a silent shadow before laying a hand on her shoulder. "From your demeanor, I trust you were unable to find that which you seek…" he deduced calmly

"I didn't expect very much from the very beginning, so I guess the lack of results should not be so disappointing." Although she spoke in her signature monotone, her eyes betrayed a sense of worry that she refused to display openly.

The magician inclined his head slightly, looking mildly distraught by her lack of reaction. "If there is one thing that I have taught you in the last year, it is not to fear your emotions. Controlling them for the sake of those around you is a worthy pursuit, but that does not mean that you must harden yourself to the rest of the world. Holding in feelings of sorrow and fear may very well cause them to manifest in ways that you and others would find most unpleasant. That is the nature of chaos magic."

Raven turned away from the old wizard's gaze, but as pondered his words she remembered the time her refusal to acknowledge her own fears brought the horrors of her imagination to life. It was embarrassing for her to admit that a half-demon such as herself was afraid of a mere horror movie, but that night had certainly been one of the most unpleasant she had ever endured. Not only had she scared herself, but her friends had also been dragged into the mess as well.

She faced her mentor once more, and nodded solemnly. "Perhaps you're right, but what else can I do? You told me earlier that this topic is not thoroughly explored in any text you have collected, therefore the results were not unexpected."

"In the year that you have spent under my tutelage I have always known you to be a hard worker, yet even with the knowledge that my library may not hold the answers you seek, you were still determined enough to spend countless hours searching." The wizard struck a thinking pose for a moment before shifting his gaze back towards her.

"Having one of my best friends taken from me may have affected my judgment." Raven's voice wavered slightly as her lips curled into a frown. "Despite all the years I've trained in the mystic arts, never before have I felt so helpless to save someone else."

Doctor Fate observed her with interest. "Magic is a powerful force in this universe, but there are always limits to what we can and cannot do."

Her expression softened as she thought of something else. "Do you know anyone else that could help me now?"

"You are welcome to use my resources as you see fit, but if you want the help of others it is probably better for you to find the answers for yourself. As frustrating as it sounds, only you will know what to do when the time is right…" he replied sagely.

The young sorceress let out a small sigh. "Do you know something that can help me?"

"Alas I do not, because I would give you the answer myself if I were able." the magician answered tactfully. "I have given you genuine advice, because there may be others who can provide the assistance you seek. For some reason I sense that this new journey will help you grow as a person."

Raven opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could form the words, Doctor Fate levitated into the air and vanished in a flash of light. As he departed, she felt a sudden rush of emotions overcome her mind. She was angry that he had left her with such a vague riddle to solve, and at the same time she was disappointed that he was unable to help her directly. Now she felt even more alone than before, but a new sense of motivation had rekindled her spirit. Perhaps finding out what she wanted was going to be difficult, yet Doctor Fate had helped her realize one thing. She would die before giving up on a friend.

With this newfound motivation she quickly chose followed her mentor's example. Crossing her legs into a meditative position, she muttered a quick incantation and vanished. She had a few ideas of places to go, and the time to act was upon her.

(Dimension 1) With Nightwing

As Raven searched for more answers, the rest of her friends were continuing an investigation of their own. Cyborg had headed back to the Watchtower to see what help he could gather from the rest of the Justice League, while Nightwing had gone off with Starfire to search the field for clues. They parted ways soon after that to cover more ground, but strangely enough the former boy wonder found himself returning to his old hometown.

The young vigilante leapt and glided between rooftops as he traversed the familiar streets, keeping out of sight as best he could. Gotham City was always a shifty place to visit after hours, but the place held some particularly bitter memories for him. Despite the mess he was in right now, things hadn't really changed much and the idea of being found by any number of enemies he had made in the past wasn't exactly very appealing to say the least. A mass breakout at Arkham Asylum had his former mentor working longer hours to track down all of the convicts, which was exactly why he had been alienating himself from the rest of the Justice League lately, among other reasons.

As if on cue, the familiar sound of sirens echoed throughout the vicinity, effectively catching his attention. He could see Wayne Manor in the distance, but as he journeyed closer the sound of explosions became harder to ignore, prompting him to turn around in favor of what he once considered a nightly event. Changing the position of his glider wings, the young vigilante headed back towards the source of the noise, landing gracefully on the roof of a bank.

Looking down below, he quickly caught sight of a small man running through a large hole in the wall of the city bank. Even from this distance, the man's light green suit and matching bowler hat were visible. He held a walking stick shaped like a question mark in his right hand, a large sack of money draped over his left shoulder.

"Hey diddle diddle, it's time for a riddle." The man chanted as he attempted to flee the scene.

Nightwing leapt from the rooftop and onto the street, effectively blocking the villain's path as he touched down. "Long time, no see… Riddler!" he replied with a challenging expression.

The villain out a small chuckle as he pressed the button on his walking stick, causing thick black cords shot out of the end of his weapon. The binds encircled his adversary like living ropes before wrapping securely around the target like snakes attempting to choke the life out of their prey. He struggled against the enemy's binds, but found them unbreakable by his level of strength, but before he could react, the Riddler wrapped the end of his question mark-shaped staff around his left ankle and grounded him.

"Fee fi fo fum… Tell me why are you so dumb?" The green-suited man laughed with a carefree demeanor. "I was expecting Batman to come after me, but imagine my surprise running into his old bird boy."

As he struggled against the pavement, the vigilante cursed himself for falling for such an obvious trick. Sliding a concealed knife from the compartment in his glove, Nightwing began sawing away at the cords closest to his wrist, all the while being cautious not to cut himself in the process. The enemy began closing in on him, but the young hero remembered the weakness that many of his mentor's adversaries possessed and quickly formulated a plan.

"I could always put an end to you here and now, but where would the fun be in that?" Riddler straightened his hat with the end of his cane and gave the hero a casual wave before walking in the opposite direction. "Until next time we meet, I bid you ado…"

"Hey Riddler, did you know that you were the laughing stock of Arkham Asylum?" Dick Grayson shouted loudly enough for his opponent to hear. "It would be a lot more amusing if you weren't so pathetic to begin with, but then again I always thought a real villain finished off his enemies."

The insane villain stopped in his tracks, his nimble fingers tightening around the handle of his staff. He walked back towards his adversary with a look of annoyance before planting a brutal kick in the hero's ribs. "I have far more important things to do aside from dealing with the likes of a second-rate crime-fighter like you. What do you say to that, punk?"

"I'd say you should have left when you had the chance." The hero freed his arm and sliced though the binds around his legs with a quick slashing movement.

Nightwing leapt to his feet and connected a barehanded punch with the enemy's lower jaw, sending him flying backwards from the impact. Riddler staggered as he attempted to shake off the punch before running in the opposite direction, but was quickly thwarted. The young vigilante withdrew a small metal rod from the folds of his cape and pressed the button on the side, instantly causing the rod to lengthen more than twice its previous size.

In a single fluid motion, he slid the end of the rod across the surface of the asphalt, tripping his opponent with a well-placed slashing movement. Riddler let out a squeal of discomfort as he toppled over onto the ground, his hat flying off of his head as he landed on his behind with an unceremonious plop, the bag of money sliding out of his grip and bursting open on the ground. The frantic villain groped aimlessly at the air as he attempted to collect his spoils, but quickly found his hands in cuffs as a familiar dark figure emerged from behind him.

The former boy wonder folded his arms with a bemused expression as he watched the newcomer cuff the villain. "Well, look who decided to show up. Pardon me if I expected better from the man who originally taught me how to bust bad guys."

Batman rose to his full height after he finished making the binds were secure, his eyes settling on the dollar bills littering the streets. "Looks like you couldn't finish the job without making a mess of things." he commented nonchalantly.

"It's good to see you too…" Nightwing shot back sarcastically. "In any case, how long were you watching me anyway?"

"Long enough to see you fall for such an obvious trick." The Caped Crusader replied.

"Tch…" His former sidekick shrugged in response. "Although I hate to admit it, I came to Gotham City for your help."

The Dark Knight merely nodded in compliance. "We'll talk later…" The two heroes merely stared at each other for several seconds, but the sound of sirens quickly caught their attention.

Upon hearing the familiar sound, the demented villain tried to flee again, but was quickly seized from behind by his captor. Dick Grayson retrieved the remaining coils that had previously bound his own body and quickly wrapped them around the prisoner's legs to prevent him from fleeing the scene. Once the binds were reasonably secure, he turned back towards Batman, who nodded in approval.

"Maybe we should let the police handle it from here?" Nightwing suggested to him.

His comment earned a quick gesture from his former mentor as they fled the scene. Batman fired his grappling hook onto a nearby building and swung off into the night, closely followed by his former ward, who quickly followed his lead. After swinging into the air, Nightwing retracted his own hook and opened the wings of his new glider, the two vigilante's disappearing into the night moments later.

Note to Readers: I decided to save anything of substance until the next chapter, considering that the whole switching between dimensions thing can get confusing when you consider that pretty much the same characters exist in both. If you need help with this chapter, just remember that Beast Boy is in the alternate world while Nightwing and Raven are searching for clues in the original world. I even marked the dimension when I switch scenes to help if anyone is confused, although I think it's pretty clear most of the time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Absolute Justice**

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos.

Beast Boy groaned as he struggled to open his eyes, a look of fear gracing his unusual features as he realized what had happened. The last thing he remembered was a large surge of energy slicing through his body as he tried to flee the prison, and then the world went black. With considerable effort he opened his eyes all the way, slowly observing his current circumstances. It made him sick to think about what had happened to Jump City, but even worse was the possibility that his best friend was in responsible… Those violent police that had attacked him in the city were obviously his subordinates.

The green changeling struggled to free his arms, but for some odd reason the offending limbs did not respond at all. Glancing down he didn't see or feel any shackles holding him down, and as a matter of fact he couldn't move any part of his body from the neck down. In desperation, the green changeling made an effort to transform and escape, but once again his body gave no response, eliciting a small gasp. Directly in front of him was a transparent door, giving the impression that they had placed him in one of those suspended animation pods that appeared in Science Fiction movies all the time. While he wasn't a scientist, it was obvious that whatever this chamber was, it was interfering with his powers.

It took a moment or two to calm down and rationalize the situation, but once that was taken care of he took his time to observe the room beyond. There were several flat surfaces that appeared to be operation tables, and the counters lining the room were littered with an assortment of scalpels and other types of medical tools. His surroundings looked like the kind of place that a scientist would find at home, or maybe even a doctor. Thinking back to his situation, the young shape shifter wasn't sure how to react to this. He had needed medical attention after being savagely attacked by the guards and knocked out by the prison's energy field, but he shuddered at the thought of what they could have done to him while he was unconscious.

Taking a moment to gather his wits, Beast Boy realized for the first time that the pain he had felt before had disappeared, although at the moment this was of little consequence to him at the moment considering that he couldn't take advantage of the situation. Several minutes passed as he attempted to formulate a plan to get away, but when nothing came to mind he began to despair. The minutes turned to hours, as he lay trapped within the chamber, although the terror he had previously felt gave way to sheer boredom.

Soon his mind grew weary, making his eyelids feel heavy with exhaustion, but the sound of a door slamming open jarred him from his nap. The green-skinned hero watched as Cyborg entered the room, closely followed by a pair of men, both of which were wearing white lab coats. Although he was still unsure of what was going on, the thought that his best friend was responsible for the tyrannical ruin of Jump City made him sick to the stomach, yet also ignited a sense of outrage in his stomach. Thinking quickly, Beast Boy shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep in the hopes that they would say something useful.

The first of the two medics was a portly man wearing glasses, while the second had a neatly trimmed beard. They appeared to be whispering amongst themselves as their superior moved in to investigate the situation for himself. Cyborg stepped up to the containment unit with a grim expression, although behind this was a hidden feeling of disbelief. A sentimental look graced his rugged features for a moment, but was quickly replace by his indifferent façade.

The bearded doctor tapped his clipboard impatiently before addressing the warden. "According to our reports, the prisoner has made a full recovery." He glanced over at the face behind the glass as he spoke. "At any rate, he is healthy enough to be sent to the holding cells. Just give us the word, and we will turn him over to the guards."

When the half-robot did not speak, the smaller man voiced his concern. "Sir, did you hear us?" the portly doctor piped up nervously.

Cyborg seemed to snap out of his daze as he turned to face the resident medics, but he spoke to them as if he hadn't heard their questions. "I have some things to ask this man before we do anything else."

"Shall we contact the main base and relay the details to your superiors." The bespectacled doctor questioned.

"That won't be necessary yet…" the robotic warden answered quickly. "Do nothing more concerning this case unless I give you the orders. Until that time comes I would appreciate it if you would both get lost. Seal the door behind you to make sure no one enters this room while I question the prisoner."

The two medics exchanged concerned expressions, but it was the bearded doctor that voiced his concerns. "With all due respect, the bosses would probably wish to hear about this case, considering the circumstances you mentioned to us earlier."

At this Cyborg's glare intensified, his mechanical eye flashing dangerously. "Are you questioning my orders? Would I care to remind you who is in charge here?"

"No sir!" the smaller man cowered, waving his hands in front of his body as if expecting to be struck down.

"Just get out!" the metallic man replied, his tone more controlled than before.

When his superior did not attack him, the doctor backed out of the room with a subservient look. The portly man standing off to the side quickly decided not to say anything, and promptly followed the first doctor's example. After giving the warden a small salute, the older man bolted the door behind him and swept from the room as well. The warden appeared as though he regretted his display of frustration as he watched the door close behind them, a look of remorse flashing across his face as he turned to face the containment pod once more.

Taking another step forward, the half-robot wrapped his hand around a large lever on the wall, pulling the switch down slowly. After a second or two, the glass part of the unit contracted so that the prisoner's body was exposed, allowing Beast Boy his first breath of fresh air. When Beast Boy's body did not stir, he placed a hand under the man's sleeping face.

"Wake up!" Cyborg commanded in an emotionless drawl.

The green-skinned hero remained unsure of how to react and decided to continue feigning sleep while he considered his options, but a hard smack upside the head broke his chain of thought. "Dude! What's the deal?" he screamed in annoyance.

His robotic captor planted his fist into the wall with a loud crack, the plaster and stone crumbling away beneath his fingers. "I don't know who or what you are, but either way you've got some serious explaining to do!" he screamed with unparalleled ferocity.

"Uh hello… Anybody home?" the changeling replied frustratingly. "It's your best friend, Beast Boy. I figured at least you would have recognized me, but instead you had those guards shoot me down like an animal. Seriously man, why the hell is everyone in this city acting like a bunch of crazed wildebeests?"

Cyborg seemed to freeze as he observed the immobile prisoner trapped a few feet away, almost as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water. His voice, mannerisms, and tone was identical to the friend he remembered from long ago, but the very thought only rekindled the previously dormant fury in his chest. The mechanical warden seized his prisoner by the throat of his prisoner with his right hand, his robotic eye flashing violently and his human eye narrowing in dislike as he threatened the immobile hero.

"I won't let some rotten imposter like you, mock Beast Boy." He screamed, tightening his grip on the smaller man. His action caused the prisoner to cough violently under the pressure of the mechanized chokehold against his windpipe. After a few seconds, he released his hold "You've got about ten seconds to tell me who you are, and where you got those super powers."

The green changeling glared up at his former friend with a slightly amused expression, hoping that this display of defiance would upset his captor. "Either you have a really short memory, or you've spent about a month sitting in front of Mad Mod's hypno screens… I am your friend! You saw me use my powers already, as if the green skin and fangs weren't enough proof already."

"Shut up, liar!" Cyborg stomped his left foot, leaving a large indent in the ground. "The fact that you look like him and have his powers is messed up enough, but you can't be him because the real Beast Boy died five years ago!"

"Seriously are you blind, or just stupid…" Beast Boy screamed, earning himself yet another slap from the warden. "I don't know why you don't remember, but everything in this city's been screwed up ever since that battle with Control Freak earlier today."

The warden raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking more interested now than he had before. "You're certainly a messed up piece of work, considering that the man you mentioned was forcibly lobotomized during the beginning of the Age of Heroes a few years ago. Your story wouldn't make any sense, even if by some crazy chance you actually were the real Beast Boy."

He took note of this, but decided to pry further. "I don't really know what to think, considering that you were their earlier today when Control Freak attacked. He was trying to open some kind of vortex to drag the entire Earth into his television dimension so that he could rule the world, but during the fight I blacked out, and everything was different."

The half-robot pulled away with a seething expression, although his eyes never left the green hero's face. They stared at one another like sentinels, neither breaking the awkward silence for several minutes. Beast Boy shifted his neck uncomfortably as he wondered what the half-robot was thinking, but the icy expression that he was wearing moments before had vanished after that last comment, having been replaced by deeply thoughtful grimace. His former friend remained like this for several minutes, until a sense of dawning realization emerged from the shadows of his mind.

"You all right, dude?" the green changeling questioned with a look of concern.

"The DNA scanner, fingerprint test, and voice analyzer we used to determine your identity were all exact matches to those of my best friend." Cyborg turned his back to the hero, but did not move towards the exit. "Until this very moment these things made no sense to me and I believed that you were some kind of imposter, but now I think I know what is really going on?"

Beast Boy seemed irritated by the robotic hero's enigmatic speech, seeing how he always hated surprises. "Care to share with me then?"

The metallic man turned to face him once more, a deathly serious expression darkening his already intimidating features. "If the portal you were talking about wasn't calibrated properly and you fell through it you were unconscious, you might have been sent to an alternative reality… In this case, my reality."

"Whoa, now that would explain a lot of what you were saying earlier." The prisoner's eyes widened nervously at the thought. "Sounds like the version of me that you were friends with got himself killed, but that doesn't explain how this world become so different from mine. Where I come from, the Justice League would never have allowed someone to get away with killing one of their own."

It was Cyborg's turn to look surprised, seeing how he had heard the name Justice League during a conversation with his superiors. The seven great heroes who ruled over this Earth once mentioned being imprisoned in another dimension for their attempt to impose the ways of peace on another universe very similar to their own. Now hearing the name from this version of Beast Boy made everything much clearer than ever before. Now the metallic hero was almost certain that the man trapped before him was the real Beast Boy, or at the very least, the Beast Boy of an alternate reality.

"It makes sense now." the warden replied solemnly, his eyes moving towards the prisoner's feet as he looked away from the face of his deceased friend. "You're the Beast Boy of the Justice League's dimension… the very world that spurned the wisdom of my world's leaders."

"What are you talking about?" Beast Boy added in a faint whisper, his mind forgetting for a second that he had been in mortal danger only minutes ago.

The robotic warrior sighed wearily, but his expression hardened slightly as he faced the confined hero. "Come to think of it, you might have heard of my bosses in your universe too, considering that the Seven Justice Lords were imprisoned on your world for a year before their escape to this dimension."

He looked horrified by this sudden revelation, having heard the stories of the Justice Lords while serving with his fellow Titans and the Justice League itself. They were supposedly an alternative universe version of the league, that went insane after the Lex Luthor of their dimension was elected president of the United States, and passed through legislation that started the persecution of heroes. To stop this, the Justice Lords killed President Luthor and seized control of the world. They apparently used their powers to enforce a permanent state of peace through tyranny, but when they tried to do the same to the Justice League's Earth, they were defeated and imprisoned.

Cyborg nodded gravely in response. "From the look on your face, I must've guessed right. You are from the Justice League's dimension."

His former friend looked as though he had just been slapped again, but his sorrow turned to anger as his mind pieced together the situation. The beastly man bore his death furiously as he thought of the things he had seen and heard about this dimension. He had toyed around with similar ideas while being transported to the prison and again while attempting to escape, but knowing that superheroes had done this to the world, including his own friends, made his blood boil in rage. Had he been able to move, Beast Boy would have pounded his former friend right there and now.

"What's wrong with you?" the warden raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"To think that even in this messed up world, you would support this tyranny created by the Justice Lords. The heroes I knew would never have supported something so cruel, especially those of you that I considered my friends." The green changeling grit his teeth bitterly. "Superman once said that the heroes of this dimension were once a lot like the people I know, and yet you guys allowed this to happen to the world."

A nostalgic, almost sentimental expression appeared on Cyborg's face, but it lingered only briefly before revealing a look of frustration. "The things that happened in this world made us this way!" he screamed, violently seizing the smaller man's shoulders. "Imagine watching your best friend dying right in front of you at the hands of a government and the people we worked so hard to protect!"

"Bad things happen, but that's no reason to change the world."

"You idiot! That friend that died was you!" Cyborg retorted, his robotic eye flashing dangerously.

"What?" The shape shifter blinked in surprise.

The half-robot hero released his grip on Beast Boy as if the sight of his former friend caused him pain. His anger seemed to evaporate as well as the bitter memories settled once more, but the sight of a friend's mangled body was burned into his memory. Seeing this living version of his deceased buddy only made him think of that day, but no matter how much he wanted to make this man understand everything, it pained him to know that his superiors would consider any Justice League hero to be an enemy. Even worse for Cyborg was that the Justice Lords would probably persecute him if they found out about this inter-dimensional traveler from someone else besides him.

Cyborg collapsed into a wooden chair a few feet away, his hands resting in his lap as he positioned the stool so that he was not facing him directly. He took a deep breath before addressing the prisoner again, this time in a more civil tone. "Listen BB, I know how you must feel about it, but the Justice Lords and the rest of this world's heroes only did what they thought was right. Thanks to us, normal people can live without fear of violence, thieves, murderers…"

"And that would be fine, but from what I've heard the people in this messed up world don't even have a choice anymore." Beast Boy finished bitterly. He paused for a moment, his thoughts returning to his other friends. "That reminds me… What exactly happened to the rest of the Titans in this dimension?"

"You ask a lot of questions for someone who's probably going to be net on death row, but in the memory of my friend I'm willing to answer them." The warden considered him before taking another deep breath. "Nightwing became a member of the seven Justice Lords after my world's Batman helped your Justice League defeat the Justice Lords. Starfire argued against the way we were doing things and was sentenced to life in jail, but Dick pulled some strings and had her spared. In exchange, the higher ups had some adjustments done to her mind."

The smaller man looked as though he was afraid to ask, but after swallowing the lump in his throat, he chose to press on. "What did they do to Star?"

Cyborg looked away as if the memory caused him to bleed internally. "Let's jut say that modern technology can have some adverse affects on the mind."

Beast Boy was completely terrified by this new information, but to him the most important person he had wanted to hear about had not been mentioned. "What exactly happened to Raven?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

The robotic man paused for a moment, a look of pain flashing across his face. "After witnessing our Beast Boy's death, she allowed rage to completely consume her soul."

"Her father is dead in my world, don't tell me Trigon still exists in yours." The changeling choked frighteningly.

"From what I learned from my superiors, our two dimensions were relatively similar until our Luthor became president of the United States, so Trigon was killed in this dimension as well as yours. Unfortunately the power of rage still exists within Raven's soul, and she is still able to tap into that power if she allows herself to." Cyborg looked as though he were remembering something very painful. "After witnessing your public execution, she participated in the raid on Washington D.C. alongside Superman and many other heroes."

The green changeling was hating this world more by the second, as he heard in detail what had transpired here. "No way…" he commented in hushed tones.

"If I stick around, I may start to think of you as the man who was my friend, and then who knows what I would do?" Cyborg nodded before standing up again, this time turning his back towards his former friend. The two stood in silence for several more minutes before the metallic hero turned to leave.

"I may not be the same Beast Boy you knew, but would the friend you lost accept this world that the rest of you guys helped create?" he replied disdainfully.

Reaching his hand out towards the door, the half-robot paused for a moment and turned to face the prisoner one more time, his expression much colder than before. "Once the Justice Lords find out the truth about who you are and where you came from, they will probably sentence you to death." He hesitated again. "If that happens, I will be forced to carry out the sentence personally. Do not make this any harder then it has to be…" And with that, he was gone.

Watchtower- Earth 2

Aboard the Watchtower, the Justice Lords sat in their respective seats discussing the daily proceedings. The room was slightly different from the meeting hall used by the founding members of the Justice League, the table being rectangular rather than circular. There were seven members of this council as well, only they were known as the Seven Commanders rather than the Seven Founders as in the case of the Justice League. After the five Justice Lords escaped their confinement in the other dimension, they returned home and imprisoned Batman for helping their counterparts, and then appointed Nightwing to replace his former mentor, as well as replacing the deceased Flash with yet another member.

Superman sat at the head of the table, and with their return to power in this dimension's Earth, the Man of Steel had raked them in terms of command, hence determining their seating arrangement at these gatherings. Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter sat closest to him, closely followed by Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. In the final two seats farthest from their leader were Nightwing and the newly appointed Supergirl, who had happily taken her position on the council.

The Justice Lords had different appearances than their counterparts since the incident in which they took Lex Luthor's life, Superman having given up his old costume in favor of a black and white version. The Martian and Green Lantern wore noticeably darker clothing, and Wonder Woman had removed her tiara and cut her hair short, also having exchanged her more showy outfit for a red form-fitting costume that covered her completely from the neck down. Nightwing's black getup was now silver in coloration with sharper versions of his old logo emblazoned on the chest area, and his dark hair tied back into a ponytail. Supergirl's outfit now black and white like her cousin's, also had a long purple cape, and a hold in the front revealing part of her cleavage. Hawkgirl's garb was more metallic than her counterpart, and she wore a dome-shaped helmet with eyeholes in the front.

J'onn J'onzz leaned forward as his superior slammed a gavel on the table, the former taking out a set of papers he had printed in preparation of the meeting. "Our first order of business for this meeting is to discuss the recent rebellion among the people of the United States." He announced solemnly. "Let us begin."

Supergirl cast him a look of limited interest, while the other listened attentively. Green Lantern shifted uneasily at the thought, having once quelled signs of resistance alongside Shayera during a political protest years ago. He remembered how frightened the people looked to see them, but in reality they had come to ensure the safety and stability of life for all those who were willing to accept the peace they so righteously protected. The Justice League had almost ruined that peace by imprisoning them in their world, but with their escape came a stronger peace, and an end to Batman's role in their rule.

"I still find it hard to believe that there are people who would stand against us." The Man of Steel stood up with a nasty expression, immediately gravitating all attention onto himself.

"I trust the situation was taken care of immediately." Wonder Woman added in quickly.

The Martian nodded in response. "Indeed… The rebellion was surprisingly violent from what I was able to find out, but seeing how this happened in his territory, perhaps Mr. Grayson would be kind enough to explain the situation personally."

Nightwing stood up with a respectful demeanor. "I sent in a small group of our most gifted troops to quell the disaster. This division was personally led by Raven, who performed as well as she usually did. The sorceress immediately found the leaders of the riot and executed them on the spot per your orders." He looked slightly bothered by this last part, but did his best to shift the thought from his mind.

"She's a true patriot…" Superman replied with an approving nod. "Although it does not directly concern us, her loyalty to the cause is unparalleled."

The young vigilante noticed how callous the Kryptonian seemed towards the depth of his friend's pain and suffering, but chose not to voice it and continued his explanation. "Anyway… Once the political extremists were eradicated, the mob outside of Titans Prison subsided, although the warden was noticeably upset that she was operating within his territory without prior approval from the Watchtower."

"This is probably because Cyborg was probably capable of quelling this resistance without her help." Supergirl stated bluntly. "That demon girl has a habit of overdoing things when she's in a bad mood, and this is coming from me."

The Man of Steel nodded with indifference. "Doesn't matter as long as the enemy is dealt with quickly."

Hawkgirl nodded in agreement. "Still, I remember a time when the world use to be happy to see heroes show up to save the day. Now everyone is running scared like dogs with their tails between their legs."

"We're trying to make this world a safe place to live, not to promote superhero fan clubs. Those of us with power have a duty to protect the weak and misguided populace." Dick Grayson interjected with a note of finality.

"Then that certainly leaves you out of the loop, huh Nightwing?" Supergirl replied with a painful nudge and a mischievous smirk. "As a man with no powers, you shouldn't even be allowed to sit at this table with the rest of us, let alone speak in our presence."

Their leader raised a hand to silence her. "That's quite enough, Kara…" Superman warned.

The youngest of the group grew tense as she saw noted the deathly serious look on the man's face, and quickly lapsed into silence. Despite her sense of pride, she was known for being obedient in her cousin's presence, especially since he was the only person capable of controlling her vicious tendencies.

The former boy wonder's eyes narrowed with dislike, considering how much he disliked being in the presence of the Kryptonian's cousin. She was rather arrogant and unpleasant to be around in general, but the air of superiority she had just because she was close to the big boss made her all the more frustrating to talk too. Kara was also somewhat vain, with her blonde hair, shapely figure, and bright blue eyes, but behind the smile of an angel was the heart of a witch. Ironically enough it had been Raven's who had originally stated this opinion, despite her decidedly demonic parentage.

"What's the next topic on the agenda?" Superman asked in an attempt to bring order back to the meeting.

J'onn shifted through his paperwork again, but seemed to have ignored the brief outburst as if it hadn't happened to begin with. "We currently have information concerning the whereabouts of Batman. Although it is still uncertain as to how he escaped confinement, I have no doubt that he is the master behind these rebellions taking place all around the world."

The Man of Steel slammed down against the table, puncturing the surface with his earth-shattering fist. "I knew we should have executed him when we had the chance." He turned on the woman sitting to his left. "If you hadn't pleaded for his life, we wouldn't be in this mess right now, would we?"

"It's not my fault that he managed to escape the most high security prison we could provide." Wonderwoman snapped defensively. "Sparing his life was the least we could do, considering that he helped us to create the world we now live in. He may have betrayed our trust by siding with the Justice League Batman, but that doesn't mean that he was not one of us."

"You're allowing yourself to be blinded by sentimentality, Diana." Superman answered with a grimace. "Bruce forfeited his place among us when he tried to reverse everything that we have worked so hard to create. Do not let past bonds cloud your judgment when it comes time to something as important as the greater good."

John Stewart nodded firmly in agreement. "That's why we exist… To provide the people with a sense of stability and peace that they are too weak and petty to achieve by themselves."

A murmur of agreement swept up and down the table as the seven heroes considered the Green Lantern's words, although the two youngest members of the group said nothing. Nightwing inclined his head in thought even though he believed in similar sentiments, although he was silently glad that Batman had escaped, if even for a brief moment. Although they had their differences in the past, Bruce Wayne had raised him from childhood, and provided him with the tools and knowledge he needed to stand against those who committed evil, and thus he still often thought of Batman as a father figure.

"As you were…" Superman addressed Martian Manhunter.

The alien cleared his throat. "As I was attempting to say, Batman was recently sighted, freeing high security prisoners from one of our strongholds, most of them superheroes who refused to cooperate with our new order. These fugitives include Green Arrow, Bumble Bee, Speedy, Black Canary, Huntress, Hotspot, and the Question."

"Most of those heroes lack potent abilities, so recapturing them will not be difficult." Supergirl added with a look of disappointment.

Nightwing shook his head in disdain, his arms crossing in front of his chest. "Do not underestimate these individuals. Three of them were former Titans, and they are all very strong regardless of their abilities."

"This from the guy without any powers of his own." Kara answered slyly. The vigilante turned away while choosing not to answer, considering that he had expected no less from her.

The Martian ignored them and made his next announcement. "I am proud to say that several more Watchtowers are currently being built in space, and are nearing completion." He explained carefully. "Each new satellite is equipped with a space cannon capable of decimating several miles when fired at the surface of the planet. With the conclusion of this project we will have a much stronger defense against enemies both on Earth and any who may strike from outer space as well."

"Excellent work, J'onn!" Superman commented with a satisfied expression. He rose from his throne-like chair with a strong sense or pride, his posture alert and erect as he towered above the other heroes. "As soon as these systems are operational, no one will ever violate the sacred principles we uphold, and the greater good will become an irrefutable force in this world. We will turn the Earth into a model society, one that all sentient life in this universe would be proud to emulate."

"That was what we had in mind." Shayera replied with a smirk.

Supergirl shot her fist into the air in a display of triumph. "Once these new weapon systems are functioning properly, we should strike the Earth in a display so powerful that the world will understand the absolute justice we uphold." She declared loudly.

The Martian's red eyes widened slightly at the thought, an anxious expression engulfing his alien features. "You can't seriously be considering the use of these space weapons without due reason. The very thought of attacking indiscriminately is shear madness."

"No, Kara actually has a point." The Man of Steel replied with a glint of amusement in his eye. "We tried ruling with a loose hand before, but the arrival of the Justice League and the betrayal of our Batman was enough to destabilize the harmony we had worked so hard to create. The people spit on our gentle guidance while we were imprisoned in that League's dimension, but now that we have returned to power, the time has come to fix these mistakes permanently."

Wonderwoman inclined her head slightly as she placed her elbows on the table and folded her hands. "I agree that being liked by the people is something we gave up a long ago. Right now, I will consider this option placed down by Supergirl."

"You can try to convince me, but I wouldn't mind taking some time to consider this before taking any further actions." Green Lantern mused.

When no one else spoke out, Superman turned to the others. "What about the rest of you?" he asked the two remaining heroes.

"I also need a chance to consider the options we have, but for now please count me as an undecided." Shayera hesitated as she mulled over the decision.

"Don't be too hasty…" Nightwing added with a glance around the room, his eyes settling longer on the Man of Steel and his female counterpart. "We have to consider the innocent people living down on Earth. I propose that we attempt to resolve the riots on Earth using ordinary methods before turning to weapons of mass destruction for the answer."

Superman looked at upon the faces of his fellow heroes for several moments, silently taking in all of their expressions and mannerisms as he contemplated what to say next. Once he was done, the Man of Steel let out a small, barely noticeable scowl. "Fine… We will deliberate this matter at a later date, after the rest of you have had some time to consider the benefits that Supergirl and I have proposed."

When the others did not interrupt, the Martian stood up from his seat as well. "If no one else has anything to say concerning these current events we have discussed, then I hereby call this meeting to an end."

Superman swept wordlessly from the room as he exited through the metallic doors behind his seat, his female counterpart following closely behind him. Wonderwoman and the Martian watched him go, but the remaining heroes turned to watch as Nightwing left through the opposite doorway. The young vigilante did not so much as spare his fellow Justice Lords a second glance as he made his exit, entering the dimly lit hallways beyond. After several minutes of walking, he headed down a flight of stairs, looking slightly disturbed by the daily proceedings.

Lost in thought, he didn't notice the dark shape hovering through the shadows until she was right in front of him. A certain Tamaranean Princess touched down within a yard of him, her head bowed respectfully as she appeared before him. Nightwing looked down upon the girl he had once care so much about, her stunningly green eyes much more cold and focused than he had remembered from their days as Titans. Her outfit was darker and much more revealing than before, leaving a lot of her cleavage and most of her stomach and back exposed.

"All is ready, master… Your javelin is ready for takeoff as soon as possible." she explained in a robotic tone. While her English was devoid of all previous quirks, it seemed almost unnatural coming from her mouth.

Nightwing cringed slightly at the sight of her, having felt a sense of guilt ever since the day he pleaded to Superman to spare her life. Tired of their methods she had stood up to him, and in return they had implanted a device in her head. The computer chip sent out a frequency that augmented her intelligence and fostered a powerful sense of loyalty to the Justice Lords, yet at the same time it severely limited her ability to feel any kind of emotion, and erased all semblance of the cheerful alien princess he had always known. Looking back, he felt responsible for turning the woman he loved into a mere shadow of her former self.

So many times he had considered having someone get rid of the chip, but the scientists who originally installed it had warned him that any attempt to remove it would result in her death. Even worse, most people he had asked to help were too afraid to cross Superman. The Man of Steel once lobotomized every inmate living at Arkham Asylum with his heat vision, rendering them all completely senseless. Even to a man like Dick Grayson who had spent years fighting those criminals, the empty expressions on their faces after receiving the ultimate punishment was something he tried to forget.

After looking around to make sure that they were alone, the former vigilante turned to face the emotionless girl following a few paces behind him. "Starfire…" he murmured quietly. "Do you still care about me? You know… The same way you used too?"

"Of course…" She replied emptily. "My greatest pleasure in life is to serve you. Without you, there would be no meaning to my very existence."

The emptiness in her tone always bothered him whenever he head her speak, which was why he often attempted to refrain from making unnecessary conversation in front of her. The two things he had felt most obligated to in his life were Starfire, and the pursuit of the goal set down by the Justice Lords. It was hard seeing how his former girlfriend had been forcibly programmed to be his bodyguard, but the alternatives of what they could have done to her were no better. After a moment, she overtook him and continued forward to ready the space ship.

"We must make haste." The Tamaranean Princess warned him.

Nightwing watched her retreating form with a pitiable expression. Hearing her voice brought him little comfort, as he silently longed for the days when things were so much simpler. There were times when he wondered if Superman's philosophy was as perfect as he preached, but how could it not be. They lived in a world where no one was murdered, no thugs robbed or beat the innocent, and no child would ever have to grow up without a place to call home… Yet for the longest time he knew that something was missing… Something that could only be given to human through the dual existence of both order and chaos that they had worked so hard to eradicate. Yet in the end, he wondered if there ever was such a thing as true justice in this world.

With Beast Boy- Earth 2

After Cyborg's departure, the medics had confirmed that he was healthy, and Beast Boy was being forcibly thrown into a holding cell for the night. Two guards stood on each side of his body, their arms wrapped around his as they dragged him through the halls of the prison. More than once he thought he saw some familiar faces present, but being a hero he was bound to have seen some enemies in a place like this. Being a member of the Doom Patrol, a Teen Titan, and a member of the Justice League, he had fought some of the world's most deadly criminals, as well as many things far worse.

He glanced backwards in shock as they passed by a strangely familiar janitor. It only took him a moment to recognize the bright red hair and glasses belonging to Mad Mod, but the former villain had two scars on his forehead as if someone had burned two tiny holes into his skull using some kind of laser. Having heard stories about the Justice Lord's Superman, he remembered the how the corrupted hero was known for lobotomizing his victims with heat vision, and cringed at the thought. Not even an evil British wannabe like Mad Mod deserved such an awful fate.

After a minute longer, the guards opened a door and tossed him headfirst into a simple barred room, resembling an old fashioned prison like the ones they showed on old cartoons. He groaned in pain as his body hit the ground, but the two guards showed him little sympathy and left, making certain to close the door on the way out. Beast Boy lay still for a short lapse, silently observing his new surroundings.

The prison cell was clean and well kept for the most part, but they had been kind enough to place him in one of the higher security sections of the prison. Under normal circumstance escape would have been easy, but before removing him from the medical chamber, they had placed a thick metal collar around his neck that rendered him unable to use his superpowers. Now angry and powerless, the green changeling sat upon the bed in his cell, silently counting the number of cracks in the wall.

"Damn, let me out of here!" Beast Boy rattled the cuff around his neck like a caged animal.

"Don't bother trying to leave." A hauntingly familiar voice sounded from the opposite cell. "The collar on your neck not only limits your powers, but also injects you with lethal poison if you try to remove it."

The green changeling looked around nervously, his eyes growing wide like a cat that had just been cornered. "Who's there?" he asked nervously. "Show yourself!"

"Well now, isn't this a surprise…" an older man greeted with apparent amusement.

Beast Boy moved towards the bars of his cell, his hands gripping the tempered steel as he eyed the opposing prisoner apprehensively. The man was six feet tall and well-built for his age, his muscular stature and impressive height at odds with his elderly face. The man wore an eye-patch over his right eyes, and his messy white hair was long and frizzled due to lack of care. Although the green changeling had never seen his face before, the voice and demeanor was unmistakable after having fought him so many times.

"Slade Wilson?" he called out with a note of uncertainty.

The assassin lord merely smirked in response to his former adversary's reaction. "Interesting to see how easily you recognized me considering you've never seen my real face, but I must admit that seeing a dead man up close is certainly something I did not expect. It is certainly interesting to think that someone from another dimension could have appeared in this one."

"How did you?" the shape-shifting hero began.

"You should know by now that I am no fool, and I do have knowledge of what happened when your Justice League entered this world. Seeing you here was all the evidence I needed to draw the conclusion that you are not from this plane of existence."

Beast Boy gave his enemy a cocky grin in an attempt to throw him off. "How do you know that the me of this dimension isn't survive?"

"This universe's version of you is was executed during the reign of President Luthor." After a moment or two, the assassin glared at his former adversary with a much more focused expression. "I would know, because I was present when this happened."

"How is that even possible?" the green hero asked with a bewildered stare.

Slade let out a dry mirthless laugh in response to his last statement, his sickening tones echoing off of the walls mockingly. "Because dear boy, I was the one of the people whom our esteemed leader chose to eliminate this world's heroes…"

Note to Readers: Phew… This took me some effort to write. Forgive any spelling or grammatical errors, because I mostly or completely wrote this during late at night sessions. So far you can tell that of the Justice Lords, Nightwing is the one who feels most conflicted about the current system, although he sees the so-called benefits too and remains conflicted. Sorry about Starfire, but she always seemed too nice a person to ever accept this type of corruption. I don't hate her, I just need readers to hate the Justice Lords. Raven's alternate universe self will probably be the most interesting of the Justice Lords Titans, although she'll probably enter the story sometime in the next few chapters or so.

Don't know if I will continue this story to the end due to the lack of support I've received, but I could use some comments, critiques, or opinions. Please REVIEW my story, because I worked really hard to write it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Cruel Irony**

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC Characters or ideas.

Titans Prison- Earth 2

Beast Boy looked upon the aged face of his longtime enemy, his mouth opening and closing a few times as if trying to form words. He let out a small gasp of air before turning to face the assassin, a look of revulsion plastered over his normally calm features. "What do you mean, you were responsible for the elimination of the world's heroes?" he asked incredulously.

Slade Wilson smirked as he backed away from the bars of his jail cell, slowly sinking back as he sat on the makeshift bed taking up half of his living space. He placed his hands in his lap, a curtain of long gray hair swaying in front of his face momentarily. "Knowing where you come from, I daresay you may find this story rather disturbing."

"Explain…" the green shape shifter choked out. "I demand you tell me how you were involved in the creation of this hell."

"Making demands, eh?" the villain replied with a note of mockery. "It's apparent from your lack of knowledge that you have not been here for very long, and yet here you are making demands, just like the Justice Lords."

The hero's eyes narrowed in a way that seemed so unlike his normal demeanor that it forced his adversary to look up, although when he did the other man still appeared to find amusement in the situation. Slade Wilson leaned forward slightly, resting his head on his right hand as he turned his cheek to face the changeling. He observed the young man with a calculating eye, his confident demeanor unchanged from the last time they had seen each other, despite the absence of his trademark mask. They stared at one another for several minutes before the assassin let out a dry chuckle, further enraging his former enemy. His terrible laugh echoed throughout the room, leaving behind a sense of dread and remorselessness lingering in the ear.

"I could be persuaded to tell you, if you promise to accept the events in this world without taking everything out on an old man like me." He answered maddeningly. "Tell me, do we have a deal Beast Boy?"

"Just spit it out." Beast Boy hissed impatiently.

Slade merely spat on the ground in response to the order, an evil smile forming on his face as he further enraged the young hero. The green-skinned shape shifter let out a low growl, reminiscent of his animal transformations, but not entirely foreign to his already beastly appearance. After waiting for another reaction, the criminal relaxed his shoulder with a more civil expression, silently considering his new neighbor through his remaining eye. He had always enjoyed toying with the minds of those around him, but considering his position it probably wasn't the best time to be pushing away his only source of conversation.

"I'll ask that you forgive my rudeness… You see, it's been quite lonely in here since my previous cellmates escaped their incarceration from this blasted prison." He explained calmly. "You see, these cells we occupy are rarely cleaned and in shoddy condition, because this is where they keep the most deadly prisoners such as us."

Beast Boy looked up, just now realizing that they were the only two inmates in being held on this level, while half a dozen other cells were conspicuously empty. He looked around as far as he could with the inhibiting bars before turning back to his old enemy. "So, who were your roommates?" he asked nervously.

"Most of them were heroes who refused to serve the Justice Lords. They were all imprisoned on this level until very recently when this world's Batman stormed the prison and freed them from their confinement." Slade explained with a bitter grimace.

This time it was the changeling's turn to smirk. "Guess they weren't desperate enough to let a jerk like you go, especially since your actions were no better than the Justice Lords." His expression changed back into a frown as he focused back onto the man in the opposite cell. "Speaking of which, how exactly were you involved in messing up this world?"

Slade paused for a moment as he thought of how to go about answering this question. He decided he would tell the boy and silently began to place the memories together in his mind, causing a ghostly smile to appear on his face as if he were reliving fond memories. The sight of his pleasure only made Beast Boy sick to the stomach, but the green hero looked as if he were afraid to interrupt the other man's though process, for fear that he would not receive an answer if he did. After a moment, the villain glanced back at his new neighbor with a compliant, yet strangely benevolent expression.

The older man let out a sigh, his free hand scratching the side of his face near the strap of his eye patch. He took a deep breath, and then slowly but surely begun his tale. "It all began when the infamous Lex Luthor was elected president of the United States over the two main party candidates. Certainly the Justice Lords were surprised to hear this piece of news, but most importantly they were concerned over the future of this world now that their arch enemy had been appointed to lead one of the greatest of the world powers."

Beast Boy looked repulsed by the thought, but pressed on. "When did the persecution of heroes that Cyborg was talking about, begin?"

"I shall explain that in due time, but more importantly are the political maneuverings of our deceased president." The jailed criminal raised a hand to silence his one-man audience before resuming the explanation. "As it was, President Luthor created an excellent façade during the first year or two of his presidency, using his own money to build and fund shelters where the homeless could live like kings, and passing legislation which dropped annual crime rates by nearly 47 percent."

"He obviously had an ulterior motive…" the shape shifter commented bitterly.

His statement earned a nod from his unwanted neighbor. "Indeed, as you can plainly see by the events that transpired later on, but I digress… Luthor used the same political campaigning he had to get himself into office, to remove incumbents and fill congress with individuals that he could bend to his will, as well as those who might've sympathized with his dislike of superheroes."

"Why would people hate superheroes?" Beast Boy questioned. "I mean, I could understand why they would hate them now, but if this world used to be like mine, then superheroes must've saved the world dozens of times here too."

"The events in our two worlds were nearly identical up until the election of President Luthor, but if you consider past events in your world, you should already know why the superheroes' trust of the public was shaken so much." Slade stopped for a moment, giving his knuckles a crack before continuing the story. "During an incident on our world, Superman was captured and brainwashed by Darksied, the Lord of Apokolips, into conquering the Earth."

Beast Boy's eyes widened slightly as he remembered those very same events. "Wait, that also happened in my world too. Although from what I heard about it, he eventually snapped out of it, and saved everyone by defeating Darksied."

The assassin lord merely smiled as he thought of the incident. "That was what happened here in this dimension too, but the incident also sparked distrust in the hearts of the people. Many who once saw superheroes as great protectors, now realized the problems that could be caused if these so-called protectors ever turned against them. Naturally there were many politicians that felt the same way, and being the evil genius he is, Lex Luthor decided that the time had come to unite these kindred spirits under one flag… The flag of the United States of America!"

"So he managed to find enough support?" he asked.

"It began with the introduction of his cabinet when President Luthor appointed a particularly fierce political hard-liner named Amanda Waller to be his Secretary of State. Together they began to stage situations that would make the world doubt the good intentions of heroes even more than before, and once congress was filled with enough supporters, they managed to pass through a metahuman registration law. This policy forced all heroes to work directly for the military and reveal their secret identities to the public."

Beast Boy shrugged slightly. "For a guy like me it wouldn't matter, seeing how I've got green skin and fangs. I guess for most people it would be a pain, especially considering that they do it to keep their loved ones safe from their enemies."

Slade folded his hand calmly, seemingly pleased that the young hero seemed to pick up on the problems so quickly as he pressed on. "Matters became worse once this law was passed, but many of your kind did not comply, problems escalated at a rapid pace, and the heroes were persecuted by the government They proved crafty in escaping the army's pursuit, so it came to the point where our esteemed president began hiring professionals to assist in the nation's efforts."

"And that's when you became involved." The changeling finished in a scathing mutter.

"It appears that you did grow wiser with age, yet it was a pity that you did no live to reach adulthood in this world." The villain mused out loud. He paused for a moment before turning back to his fellow inmate, a strange glint in his eye. "This brings us back to our earlier discussion… It was I who was placed in charge of coordinating the strikes on superhero strongholds by the authority of the president. Knowing me to be the world's greatest master assassin, Lex Luthor agreed to place the full power of the United States armed forces under my direct control, so long as the job was carried out efficiently."

Unable to throttle the man in the opposite cell, the green hero punched the wall with his right hand, causing a throbbing pain to course through his hand. "You bastard… So this mess was your fault after all! Your involvement ruined this entire world, and yet you're still alive!"

"I'm afraid you are mistaken, my friend, for I merely carried out my duties, just as any hired assassin should." The older man spoke as if this one statement rationalized everything.

Beast Boy scowled with a look of fury as he reached through the bars in an attempt to seize hold of the villain, but his arm didn't even come close. After several minutes of throwing himself against the bars in an attempt to knock them loose, he fell backwards onto the cold, dirty floor of his cell, his green complexion flushed beet red as the anger in his chest subsided with exhaustion. "Are you quite finished?" his former adversary questioned, causing the shape shifter to look up from his lying position. Silently the hero wondered why he felt as awful as he did, considering that things were fine back in his world, but seeing and hearing about the events that transpired in this dimension only fuelled his desire to make things as he believed they should be.

Between labored breaths he felt the collar around his neck fastening to his throat, as if to cut off his supply of air. "Ugh… … Can't breathe!" he choked out in a whisper.

His eyes moved up as he heard the footsteps of his neighbor, the tapping on the floor more apparent from his position. Slade watched in amusement for a moment before growing bored with the festivities, his mind's eyes seeing the boy's value. "Do not struggle…" he warned with a cold expression. "The behavior collar around your neck will kill you if you make another attempt to escape."

The green changeling did as he was told, and after a minute longer the collar had loosened it's hold around his throat. "Ugh! You… … Saved me."

"I suggest you consider yourself lucky that your presence in this world interests me…" Slade answered with a look of indifference. "Ironic that I saved you, considering that your death in this universe was partially my fault."

"You actually captured me?" He looked positively flabbergasted at the thought.

The assassin lord let out a dry chuckle. "It was hardly a challenge once I had captured Wally West among countless others. After President Luthor personally executed the Flash as an example to those who would defy him, he decided to do the same with every other hero the government had captured, including you." Seeing the look of horror on the boy's face only made him hungry for more. "Oh yes, it was quite the sight to behold. I can only imagine how your friends must've felt about this, particularly Raven…"

"You're dead!" Beast Boy threw himself against the bars again in a renewed attempt to break down the barricade.

Rearing back from the impact, he prepared to charge a second time, but the warning light flashing on his collar brought him back to his senses very quickly as the fear of death crept up on him once more. After recovering from this frenzied rage, the green hero imitated his neighbor's gesture and sat on the shoddy bed in the back of his tiny cell. He considered what Cyborg had told him before combining with what he heard from their former nemesis, but the affect was like rubbing salt into an open wound.

"And it appears you can be taught." Slade gestured mockingly to the metallic ring around the hero's neckline.

"Shut up… You don't need to tell me any more." Beast Boy could not bear to look his nemesis in the eye, and instead shifted his gaze to the dirt-covered floor. "I know about what happened in Washington… When Superman killed the president in retaliation for the death of his friend."

The villain raised an eyebrow as his cell neighbor sat in silence. Beast Boy slowly began connecting the two stories together in his mind, the pain weighing down on him as he realized the true weight of what had happened in this world. Things sounded simple at first, but the thing that bothered him most was imagining this very same scenario happening on his world. The idea revolted him, and at the same time terrified him to varying extents. He heard that the Raven of this world had given herself to the darkness, which was truly frightening considering how frightening she was when consumed with rage.

After taking some time to arrange his thoughts, the green-skinned hero faced his enemy once more. He remembered hearing that the Superman of this world lobotomized and killed his victims if they did not submit, but looking over at Slade it was abundantly clear that he had escaped this fate. "After all you did… It's hard to believe that you're still alive." He commented with angry regret.

A dry, humorless laugh filled the room once more as his fellow inmate heard his words. When he emerged from this unwarranted chorus, the assassin looked deathly serious, although strangely enough not quite angry. "So you call this life, do you?" he seethed, looking as if though someone had force-fed him poison. "To be held here in constant boredom, and then sent to the punishment chambers to endure hours of merciless torture on a regular basis… Such a life is far worse than death, and yet I have lived this way for years."

"What?" was all that Beast Boy could say in response.

"Oh yes…" Slade spoke calmly, but there was a certain madness glimmering in his eye. "The so-called heroes of this world deemed death as far too good for my soul. Superman has given the order that I be made to live and atone for my crimes against the Justice Lords. I would hang myself were it not for these." The villain held out his hands, revealing a pair of metal bracelets around his wrists, clipped so tightly that they seemed close to cutting off his circulation.

The green hero's anger towards the villain had not yet gone away, but this new bit of information did catch his interest. "What exactly are those things, anyway?"

His nemesis rubbed his forearms gently, the sense of madness leaving him as he pushed a curtain of tangled gray hair from his face. "These little gifts from the warden inject a powerful anesthetic into my body when they take me to the torture chambers. It also activates if I attempt to take my own life… Let's just say that I find that second part out the hard way."

A strange silence hung in the air for several moments as the two prisoners returned to their respective beds, Beast Boy turned his back on the assassin lord with a cold demeanor. "I pity your existence, but that doesn't mean I think you deserve anything less after hearing about the things that you did." He answered coldly.

"Naturally, I wouldn't expect you to… After al, in this world or any other, I doubt that you or I would be anything less than enemies." Slade sat down again, his eye moving warily toward the cuffs on his hands. "Surely you can attest to that?"

The green changeling hung his head in defeat and turned away from his enemy's daunting voice, having grown tired of hearing about the horrors of this universe. After several minutes, he heard Slade step into bed and rolled over to find a more comfortable position. It was certainly a terrible bed, small enough to fall off of, hard and springy with a flattened pillow, but at least it was a place to sleep after bearing such terrible burdens this past twenty-four hours. It felt strange to know that so little time had passed since he had learned the truth about this dimension, but the time seemed to lag on, and the sheer misery this knowledge brought made him feel as though he had just ran a thousand miles in human form. The knowledge of this world slowly ate at him, but after a while of tossing and turning, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Right before succumbing to the darkness, he hoped that there was a way for him to return home, and never have to live this nightmare again.

Watchtower- Earth 1

J'onn J'onzz stood in the control room of the Watchtower, silently watching the monitor as his subordinates typed in the contact information they required. After the sudden disappearance of Beast Boy during that battle with Control Freak, Cyborg had recommended that they make a few calls to deliver the information to those who had know him. Most of the people they had called were former Titans, now members of the Justice League, and yet this last session that they had yet to complete was not one that he was looking forward to. As the Justice League's chief dispatcher and mission coordinator, it was his job to handle these sorts of things, seeing how these duties made him the liaison to different organizations as well.

The second in command of the control room, Mr. Terrific, sat at the main panel, silently working to solidify the communications between their space base and Earth, but seemed to be struggling in this endeavor as they were also tapping into a secure line, which made the task more challenging even for a man of his technological expertise. After several long moments of waiting, the giant monitor above their heads flickered to reveal an attractive, brown-haired woman, garbed in purple. She looked slightly surprised upon seeing the Martian's face, but quickly worked to conceal this fact.

"My apologies for contacting you, but I believe that it may be in your best interest to listen to what I have to say." The Martian began.

The woman turned away from the screen as the sound of footsteps caught her attention, her superior stepping into the view of the monitor moments later. A man wearing a similar outfit entered the scene, a purple mask covering the top part of his face in a classic superhero fashion. The helmet-like mask had a pair of antenna-like apparatuses, the holes in mask portion revealing his rather stern gaze. Mento approached the monitor with a rather unwelcoming expression, a sense of stubbornness radiating from him. This affect was not lost on the Martian, who seemed less than happy by the opposing man's demeanor.

"The Doom Patrol has no business with you folks from the Justice League. Contrary to what you space-based big shots believe, whatever you're planning has absolutely no bearing on the rest of us." Mento replied.

Elasti-girl nudged her teammate lightly to catch his attention before shooting him a warning look. They spoke is whispers for a second before she turning back to the screen with an apologetic expression. "Pardon if his behavior offended you, but he was correct to say that your team has absolutely no jurisdiction over those of us who are not affiliated with the heroes of the League."

The boisterous man held his tongue for a moment, but ultimately cut them off before either of them could respond. "If this is about us joining the Justice League, then tell Superman that we have absolutely no interest in being a part of your little space club."

J'onn appeared not to hear his insulting words as he stared up at the monitor, his eyes devoid of emotion. "We have long given up on recruiting your team to our cause, despite the fact that you have allowed your own stubbornness to blind yourself o the benefits of this possible alliance."

"It was bad enough that me own son was willing to give up his independence to be subordinate to a bunch of alien-fighting, grandstanding so-and-sos like you!" Mento folded his arms with a disapproving expression.

"Calm down Steve… Just stop for a minute and hear him out." Elasti-girl urged him with a pleading expression.

One again, the Martian shrugged off the other man's unnecessary comments. "Speaking of which, this deeply concerns former Doom Patrol member, Beast Boy. Having acted as his family for many years before his induction into the Justice League, we believe that of all people, the members of your team deserve the right to hear this piece of information."

The two Doom Patrol heroes seemed to hesitate for a moment as they considered the alien's words. They had been Beast Boy's adoptive parents for years, and had always thought of him as nothing less than their child. Mento stepped closer to the monitor, but Rita was the first to recover. The Martian did not show any sign of discomfort, even though he wished that he did not have to deliver this information. Although he probably wouldn't have had to speak to the Doom Patrol members at all had the circumstances been different.

"Active Justice League field agent, Garfield Logan, alias Beast Boy, was recently lost during a mission." J'onn J'onzz relayed in an emotionless drawl.

"Did something happen to Garfield? Where is our son?" the purple-clad woman's voice quivered slightly as she feared the worst.

The Martian watched them carefully, quickly noting this strong change from her previous pattern of behavior. "He is not dead." He stated bluntly in an attempt to calm her nerves. After waiting a minute for this notion to sink in, he decided to resume the conversation. "Although this was true when he was last seen, the current circumstances make his fate unclear. I am not entirely certain if he is alive now, but Beast Boy was last seen during a mission in Jump City, during which he fell through an energy vortex created by a villain named Control Freak."

Mento leaned forward anxiously, his eyes widening slight in concern. "Don't tell me that you lost track of him after that."

"Unfortunately that is the case…" the alien responded with a note of hesitation. "Beast Boy is still alive to our knowledge, but the portal he fell through was not calibrated to lead to any particular place, time, or plane of existence. Assuming that he is not trapped in an endless limbo between the boundaries of the space-time continuum, he could be stranded in any place, time, or dimension possible."

"Is there anything that we can do?" Rita questioned worriedly, her eye flashing with a spark of determination.

J'onn J'onzz merely shook his head in response. "Our best teams have been searching for evidence for the last day or so, but we have yet found any indication of where Beast Boy may have been sent too. If there is one thing we have concluded, it is that he is not in a time or place that can be accessed by ordinary means."

"Is there any way you can find him?" she reiterated nervously.

"We have every hero available, searching for clues in this case, many of which are the Justice League most powerful magicians." The Martian explained flatly. "They have yet to yield any promising results, but to my knowledge they have been working tirelessly to find a solution to this problem through the mystic arts. I am hardly an expert in such things, but with time we may see something promising come up."

Elasti-girl turned away with a pained expression, silently allowing this information to embed itself into the depths of her mind. The telekinetic hero placed a hand on his wife's shoulder with a gruff, yet understanding expression as he attempted to comfort her. He understood her distress, having felt it himself even though he had always been good at hiding his emotions from other people. The Doom Patrol Leader clenched his fists with grit teeth, his hotheaded temper silently flaring up briefly. He faced the monitor again with a noticeably less tender expression as he faced the alien hero.

"Like it or not, the Doom Patrol will personally begin a search of our own… Long before he was comrade of yours or even the Titans, Beast Boy was one of us. The vow that the members of my team has made will always apply to him, just as it does to the rest of us… We will do whatever it takes!" Mento declared with a note or finality.

"You are free to try, but the boy operates under the jurisdiction of the Justice League, and is thus our responsibility before yours. It is not our place to interfere with your own exploits, but since he is one of us, I ask that if you find anything relevant, you willingly share with us any information related this case." The Martian answered sternly.

"Are you saying you want us to become your subordinates? Unacceptable!" the telekinetic hero replied fiercely.

His wife shook her head disapprovingly, silently glad that the alien hero was so patient with them. "Right now, we have more important things to worry about than maintaining the pride of the Doom Patrol. Our son is in danger, and I refuse to sit around watching you debate this issue with the Justice League."

The telepath seemed to consider her for a moment, his expression changing back into one of repressed sorrow. "All right, Rita…" he answered solemnly. After waiting a moment or two to breath and allow his temper to settle, the hotheaded hero turned back to face their unwanted guest. "What exactly do you need us to do, then?"

Martian Manhunter let out a weary sigh, having expected this streak of independence from them based on previous encounters. "We do not ask for your allegiance, only your cooperation." He reassured the two unaffiliated heroes. "The Justice League will not interfere with your operations in any capacity, but you know as well as I do that Beast Boy falls under our jurisdiction."

Mento looked as though he was unhappy with being given an order from an outsider, but the fact that the alien had phrased it as more of a request made it difficult to fault him. As painful as it was to admit, he probably would have done the same thing if their positions were reversed. "Agreed…" he snarled with a note of hesitation. "Nevertheless, we will do as we see fit, and are only obligated to share information related to that which concerns us both."

"Aside from what I have requested, feel free to do as you wish." The Martian answered with an indifferent gaze. He spun around moments later turning his back to the screen and revealing the full length of his long blue cape at the same time. "Since I have delivered the message, there is little more reason for us to continue this conversation…"

"Thank you for sharing this with us." Elasti-girl bowed her head slightly in a show of gratitude.

"Do not thank me… it is only natural to alert a family in case one of their own is in the midst of an emergency. Until next time we speak, I wish the Doom Patrol luck in your future endeavors…" J'onn replied with a small nod. "Watchtower out!"

With these words, the screens in both locations flickered and faded. Mister Terrific watched his superior for a reaction, but did not seem keen on making any comments, and continued with his work. Once the communications were cut, J'onn J'onzz shifted his focus to another one of the monitors. This screen presented a three-dimensional image of the Earth, with several lighted areas marking the current locations of the organization's many heroes. Shuffling over to the panel, the Martian began punching in a series of search commands in a renewed attempt to locate any trace of Beast Boy's communicator link signal. The computer searched rapidly, but after several minutes it had turned up nothing.

He didn't know why he had bothered, but for the first time in a while he had felt empathy towards the people of this planet. Judging from personal experiences, he had once lost everything he once loved thanks to the alien invasion that had destroyed Mars so long ago. The images of his family's faces lingered on the surface of his mind, but shortly after they were swallowed up by the images of the war that ravaged the planet, and took the lives of the people he had cherished most. The once great civilization he had grown to live had been destroyed, along with everyone he had loved. Something told him that Mento and Elasti-girl might have felt similar sentiments at the idea of losing their adoptive son as well.

Gotham City- Earth 1

An elderly man approached Nightwing, his kind expression and gentle demeanor making him remember why he considered this man like a grandfather. He gave the young master a respectful bow, but the hero shrugged off the gesture and placed a hand on the butler's shoulder, shaking the man's hand with a welcoming smile.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" he asked the older gentleman.

"Indeed it has, but I am pleased to see that you are doing so well after all this time, Master Dick. I suppose we can catch up later, but I daresay you would probably find my stories of preparing meals and cleaning the mansion to be a boring affair. After all, I sincerely doubt that my life has been as interesting as yours of late." Alfred Pennyworth replied with a fatherly expression.

The young vigilante let out a small laugh, having expected this reaction from the Wayne Family Caretaker. "No it's just fine… So Alfred, did you finally manage to tackle that stain ground into the guest room floor?"

Alfred smiled at the boy's manners, having once instructed him in the art of high-society small talk many years ago. "Oh it was quite an engaging tale, but perhaps it would be best suited for another time, considering that I would like to do it justice. I was told to give you the message to head downstairs."

"Thanks…" Nightwing replied with a small salute as he headed towards the familiar clock across the room. The former boy wonder opened the secret passage against the wall.

Nightwing ascended the all-to-familiar stairs leading into his mentor's lair, a look of comfort appearing on his face as he entered the surroundings he knew so well. It was a dark, dank area with dim lights and cave-like ceilings, the large computer terminal where the Dark Knight solved all his crimes resting against the opposite corner of the room. As he journeyed further into the darkness, the former boy wonder noticed several glass cases present, each one of them filled with evidence and souvenirs from Batman's many missions. Most of the objects were known to him, but not all of the memories they brought were good.

Moving up to the first case, he recognized the freeze ray belonging to Mr. Freeze, and in the second case was the Penguin's umbrella, or at least what most people assumed it to be. Dick Grayson remembered the first time he made that mistake, only to find out the portly man's harmless parasol was actually a disguised machine gun. He had also seen the villain conceal missile launchers and shotguns inside of umbrellas, but it made him wonder if the former villain had ever carried a normal accessory before.

The next case over had a small pistol with a flag shooting out of the end, the word "BANG" emblazoned on the flag. Although comedic, the Joker's trademark weapon was more than capable of shooting his victims, the flag impaling whoever was unlucky enough to be on the end of his shot. He moved towards the next case, taking note of the ventriloquist dummy used by Arnold Wesker. It was shaped like a small man, although the costume was clearly modeled after the old gangsters with a striped suit and hat. The insane puppeteer had a multiple personality named Scarface that manifested itself in the form of the puppet, but without the dummy on his arm, the mild-mannered man was pretty much harmless. Still it was interesting how many times Arkham Asylum had declared him cured, only to find him committing crimes with the puppet again.

"So, you finally arrived." A sharp voice greeted him from behind.

Nightwing was a little surprise by the voice that addressed him, turning around just in time to meet the eyes of a familiar redhead. Batgirl smirked in response to the rather surprised look on his face, but seemed to found it amusing nonetheless. He relaxed slightly seeing how he hadn't been in the mood to talk to his former mentor at the moment, and was actually relieved to see that Barbara had been the one to call on him. The female hero ran a finger down his arm with a playful smile, the gesture reminding him of the days when they were still kids fighting alongside the Dark Knight in the streets of Gotham City.

"So Dick, I heard you were finally back in town and couldn't wait to see you." Batgirl greeted him with a smile, but when he did not answer right away, she raised an eyebrow. The male vigilante returned her smile, but the gesture seemed half-hearted at best. "I know I'm really happy to see you, but why don't you look as happy to see me?"

Nightwing cracked his knuckles with an odd expression barely hidden by his mask. "Sorry I'm not exactly in the greatest mood, but that doesn't mean I'm not happy to see an old friend. Either way, I don't suppose that Bruce told you about what happened to my team back in Jump City, did he?"

She nodded in response to his question. "Whoops, sorry about that… I was aboard the Watchtower a few hours ago, during which I heard most of the story from Starfire. I never imagined that one of your friends would go missing, but the way it happened sounds so unreal that I'm still struggling to accept the fact that it happened to begin with. Considering that we've met our share of metahumans and aliens, that's certainly saying something."

"The rest of us vowed to find Beast Boy, so we will." He cut through her babble like a knife.

Barbara sat on the couch not far from Batman's crime computer, her face displaying signs of concern for her former boyfriend. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend… if there's anything I can do to help, just ask me. I mean, we are friends after all, right?"

The young vigilante plopped himself down onto the nearby armchair, his eyes moving towards his feet. "I wish there was something you could do, but according to the Martian there's no sign of Beast Boy's communicator signal anywhere in this entire planet. The portal he fell through could have sent him anywhere in this universe, or in any other dimension for that matter… With countless possibilities, I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible."

"The league is full of magicians, including your friend Raven." The female hero replied with a positive note. "Maybe one of them can use a spell to bring your friend back home."

Nightwing looked up at her, his eyes betraying deep concern. "As a matter of fact, this mess seems to have affected her the most out of all of us. I haven't seen her since Beast Boy disappeared, but knowing her she's probably busy searching for any possible solution that magic can provide her."

It was Batgirl's turn to stare into the carpet. "You know, I'm really sorry that I can't do anything to help. You know that you can always rely on me if something important comes up and you need a little backup. Just give me a buzz and I'll be there as soon as I can…"

The two vigilantes fell silent once more, an awkward silence falling between them as they considered the current situation. She looked upon his face and noticed how concerned he was for his friend, but knew that this was only a small fraction of the grief that the entire Titans team must've felt. After all, she had previous met the five original members of the group, but although she didn't know them as well as she did Dick, they were an easy group to ride. Cyborg and Beast Boy were obviously best buddies, and Raven seemed to silently enjoy the green hero's company despite her outward appearance.

Starfire was Dick's new girlfriend, but Barbara felt no ill will towards either of them, and had even encouraged the new relationship at one point. Right now she truly wished that she could help them all for his sake. The female hero relaxed her shoulders for a moment as she considered the man sitting on the opposite seat, her hand instinctively moving towards the place where she wore the gold necklace Dick had given her when they were dating. Although she did not wear in while dressed as Batgirl, the police commissioner's daughter had kept it all these years and never took it off as Barbara Gordon. He had made it clear that there was little she could do for him now, so she did not speak up, and instead continued to stare off into the dark, cavernous walls of the Batcave.

Nightwing grew tired of the pause and looked up, deciding to take his mind off of the terrible situation if only for a moment. "So, I assume that you and Bruce are done for now?" he replied with a shadow of a smile.

"What the… how?" she stammered with a noticeable blush. "Wait a minute, are you suggesting that there was ever something between us?"

Dick Grayson folded his hand and sat back slightly. "Tim gave me the details… The new Robin is a little bit better at sneaking around than you give him credit for. It turns out he picks up a lot living here in the mansion, although the fact that he used to drive two hours to have lunch with you when you were at college, already told me something was up."

Barbara looked anything but amused by his intuition. "Our relationship wasn't all that serious if that's what you're implying." Her eyes seemed to trail off at this assertion. "Either way, we both know it's been over for a long time now. I was just the latest person to receive that treatment from Bruce… He can't except when someone loves him."

"You get that impression looking at him and Diana." The male vigilante replied.

"Word in the Watchtower is that he turned down Wonderwoman too." She replied with a frown. "They also had something for awhile, but he was afraid that his enemies would use her to get to him… That's the same reason it didn't last with me if I remember right."

Nightwing snorted slightly. "You figure he would feel safer having a girlfriend that could snap his enemies' necks with one finger."

"I'll say, but something tells me that won't happen…" Batgirl replied with a note of sadness in her tone. "Bruce does so much for the public, but he never gets anything in return. I saw him looking at pictures of Zatanna, Diana, Lois Lane, Talia, Selena, and Kathleen yesterday on his computer. To be honest, I think I even saw a picture of myself in there somewhere. Something tells me that he secretly regrets every allowing so many relationships to fail."

The ex boy wonder couldn't help but pity his former mentor. "If you ask me, he's just lacks the sense of commitment, and fears losing his edge as Batman by allowing himself to care about someone else. Can't say I'm an expert on love, but when you have someone you care about, you shouldn't just let them go. "

Barbara seemed to bite back her own sense of sorrow, but the words still managed to find their way past her lips. "Strange how you didn't stay true to that when it was just the two of us?" Although she sounded completely civil when she spoke, a note of sarcasm could be heard behind her tone.

"I'm still sorry about that." Nightwing looked slightly insulted that she would bring up such an old regret.

After a moment, the shadow of regret left her face, only to be replaced by a deeply apologetic look. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, but you never do forget your first love."

Nightwing nodded in agreement, his shadowy smile returning again. "That's true…"

She opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of heavy footsteps quickly caught their attention. The two heroes looked towards the entrance to the Batcave just in time to catch sight of their mentor approaching, closely followed by Tim Drake, Dick's successor as Robin. Bruce leapt from the stairway, landing gracefully on his feet with practiced acrobatics, although he cast a warning look towards the boy wonder so that he would not take unnecessary risks. Once he had touched down, the Dark Knight approached his two guests with a blank expression, neither of them bothering to speak right away.

"Hey Dick, how's it going?" Tim greeted enthusiastically.

The young vigilante seemed to ignore his young replacement for a moment, and addressed Bruce Wayne instead. "About time you showed up." He stated bluntly.

"Come with me… I have something that might interest you." Batman replied with an equal measure of directness.

Without so much as a second glance, the Dark Knight began walking towards a passage leading deeper into his underground base, the gesture clearly his way of saying that he wanted them to follow. Robin caught up rather quickly as Dick and Barbara exchanged sideways glances with one another, and in a matter of moments they were also on their feet. And ready to go. Nightwing wasn't where they were going or why, but he had learned a long time ago that Batman would tell them if it was important to know right away. Although he was a rough person to spend time with, Bruce had always looked out for his wards and placed their safety before his. Whatever he wanted to show them was probably nothing dangerous, but for the time being he did not ask.

Note to Readers: Phew, here's another chapter. Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, but I usually write the story late at night. I even added some romance stuff, seeing how it applies to more than Raven and Beast Boy, although keep in mind that romance isn't always my specialty. Hope you guys enjoyed the developments, and I think everyone was in character. I worked pretty hard on this one, so please **REVIEW**… I could use some criticism, critiques, and opinions as usual, but perhaps even more importantly **I NEED SOME IDEAS**! I like using or trying to apply reader ideas if you guys have some good ones. Please tell me if you have ANY at all, or if you want to see something in particular happen in this story. I am open to ideas.

Oh, anyone think I should add an Earth 3… If I did I would base it on the Crime Syndicate of America World from the comics with Ultraman, Owlman, and Superwoman. Don't know how it would fit, or if it would… Probably not though… If I did use that idea it would be in another fanfiction.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Justice is Blind **

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos.

Earth 1- Batcave

Batman led his three wards into another room before switching on a computer terminal. It was a considerably smaller room in the lair, usually used for lab work and smaller scale research, but he had found the information on this particular database. Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl stood close behind their mentor as began typing on the keyboard, quickly looking through a compilation he had created for less prominent criminals. Among these were mere thieves like many of the former H.I.V.E. Five, as well as some minor criminals like Ding Dong Daddy. After a minute of waiting, the Batman brought up a picture of Control Freak.

"So, I take it you found out something useful?" Dick Grayson questioned impatiently.

The Dark Knight nodded in agreement as he stepped aside, looking pleased that he had caught on so quickly. "Look at this intelligence report my computer system found." He gestured towards the screen as the three other heroes crowded to see. "The man responsible for your friend's disappearance was using stolen technology from a familiar source if you know what I mean."

Nightwing sat in the chair in front of the terminal and used the control panel to scroll down to read the rest of the article. After a moment, he looked as though someone has just frozen his insides, a sentiment shared by the group's female member. Barbara re-read the last part of the United States intelligence report with a sense of awe, although Tim Drake, being the youngest of the group did not seem to fully understand the rest of it, but he continued to read over the shoulder of his predecessor, and soon things became all too clear. A few pages down, they found a picture of the infamous Emil Hamilton from Star Labs in Metropolis.

"The information here indicates that Control Freak stole this inter-dimensional technology from a government-funded laboratory." Dick Grayson shared a worried expression with the others as he turned to face the group. "I don't know why he bothered risking his neck like that, considering that he already has that tricked out TV remote."

Batman stepped past Barbara with a glum expression, his using the control panel to bring up another page on his computer. After entering a series of his own passwords, another screen came up with a diagram that looked suspiciously like the machine the villain had used back in Jump City a few days ago. This little detail did not go unseen by the three younger heroes, who immediately recognized the doomsday device from recent crime scene photographs that had been shown on the news.

"It was true that his remote had the ability to rip open dimensions, but no matter how affective this power was, the ability was also very limited." The Caped Crusader explained. He clicked another icon, causing a diagram of the villain's remote to open. "From what we are able to learn through interrogating Control Freak, he was planning on adapting this Cadmus technology, and combining it with his own invention to create a portal large enough to trap the entire planet in his television world."

His former sidekick understood the relevance, but was beginning to lose patience. "Big deal, so now we know where he got his hands on this machine, but how exactly does this help us find Beast Boy?"

Barbara nodded in agreement. "Yeah, how exactly does this help us find out where his buddy was sent? Control Freak escaped broke out of jail and hasn't been seen since, so we can't just ask him what's going on." She asked with a frown.

"Knowing him, we probably won't be able to catch him again unless he wants to be found." Nightwing replied with a sense of grudging respect. "He may be a dork, but I won't say he's entirely incompetent when it comes time to hiding from the authorities."

"As fate would have it, Control Freak didn't get this technology directly from Star Labs, so we can assume that he found it on the black market." Batman explained simply. "The machine in Jump City was destroyed beyond recognition during the battle, but if we can get our hands on this technology, there's a chance we might be able to use it to locate Beast Boy and bring him back here."

Tim Drake wore a puzzled expression. "Couldn't we just ask the scientists at Star Labs to whip is up another one of these gizmos?"

The Dark Knight shook his head. "Unfortunately the blueprints for the device in question were stolen before anyone else could study the design, and the man who originally participated in its creation is long gone. Lex Luthor and Professor Ivo conducted this research at LexCorp years ago, and they're both dead. The prototype was confiscated by the authorities and sent to Star Labs for reverse engineering, but they never could get it to work again."

"Knowing Luthor, it was probably never finished." Nightwing replied grudgingly. "Either way it looks like Control Freak managed to buy the blueprints from whoever stole it."

"My guess is that with both, he managed to complete the machine." Batman answered solemnly before turning to the screen. "Although we don't have many leads right now as to where he obtained these, we can begin exploring underworld connections to search for information about the stolen technology or traces of the escaped villain."

"Sound pretty good to me." Barbara replied with a shadow of a smile. "My guess is that we should split up into teams and bring some more Justice Leaguers into the loop."

The Caped Crusader seemed to agree. "To accomplish this we'll have to split into search teams. I'll take Robin and head out now." He faced the female of the group. "Barbara, I want you to go with Nightwing and provide him with some assistance."

"What about the rest of my friends?" Dick Grayson looked as though he were not pleased with taking orders, but was too concerned at the moment to care.

"You may recruit other League members who are available, but make certain that they can make themselves useful before choosing members to help in this search for clues." Batman explained quickly. "If we manage to get any leads on Control Freak or the stolen technology, I want you to submit a report by contacting J'onn so that he can get the information to the rest of us immediately."

The four members of the Bat Family climbed into their respective vehicles as they reached the main exit to the Batcave, the boy wonder getting into the car with his mentor while the two older teammates climbed onto Nightwing's motorcycle. Barbara wrapped her arms around this waste as they passage way opened. Revealing the secret road leading into the streets of Gotham City. Once they were ready, the two vehicles took off into the night, all four vigilantes eager to begin the assignment.

Dick Grayson was confident that they would find some clues, considering that they had a lot of ties to the criminal underworld thanks to past encounters. Batman seemed to be heading to the red light district, but Nightwing had another place he wanted to visit first in the wealthier side of town. Turning onto the corresponding exit, the former boy wonder and his ex-girlfriend jetted onto the next highway. If they were going to be shaking down criminals, the best thing to do was to hunt down the most obvious leads, before choosing to include more members. He felt a little bit guilty about not going to his friends at once, but after tonight, he planned on sharing Batman's information with the rest of his friends.

Earth 2- ?

The moon cast an eerie glow upon the Earth as the darkness of night slowly swallowed up the sun's last light, the faint glimmer in the distance disappearing into the blackness of space. While many people would have found the visual result beautiful, the birds flying through the skies gave off a malevolent vibe that ruined the tranquil ambience. The flock of crows continued circling the building below for several minutes before coming to roost on the many turrets and towers which branched off of the main structure, these tall additions reaching towards the sky like the claws of a demon. Overall the frightening structure seemed anything but inviting to most people, yet the reason why they avoided it was entirely different.

Raven had long created this domain for herself… It was a citadel she had constructed through the use of the dark arts, where she spent most of her time in solitude, studying magic and occupying her time with various tasks. The only time she had any contact with the outside world was when the Justice Lords needed her for a mission, during which she would head out and take care of the problem as quickly as possible so that she could be done with it. It was better to keep Superman off of her back by cooperating with him, but truthfully she had very little interest in their goals of world domination, although it was no secret that these little outings gave her an opportunity to vent some anger, and satisfy her own dark desires. Killing her victims filled the void left behind by a certain green-skinned hero, and allowed her to tap into the true darkness of her heart.

As a half-demon she had always aimed to do good in the past so that the demonic blood inherited from her father would not remain dominant, but ever since that fateful day, she had surrendered to the power of rage, which coursed through her veins. Trigon was long gone, but because of his influence, she had long feared the demonic side of her personality that surfaced along with her anger. Long had she fought to control her emotions, but something inside of her broke that fateful day so long ago. Beast Boy had been captured along with several other heroes who defied President Luthor, and because of that he was captured by the United States government and then publicly executed without trial. At the time her friends were planning a rescue of the captured heroes, but after what happened to the Flash they should have known better than to wait. It happened so quickly, and the next thing she knew, the best thing in her life was gone forever.

Her anger erupted to new levels that day, and the temptation of darkness loomed. Despite how she tried to deny her developing feelings for the green changeling, Raven could not stop herself from embracing that which she had long tried to contain. For the first time she willingly gave into her demonic tendencies, and joined the Justice Lords during their campaign against Washington D.C. That was the same day that Superman killed Lex Luthor, and also the day that she lost her sense of restraint. When released in such terrible fury, her demonic abilities acted like a wildfire, growing immensely and devouring everything in her path. At first she hadn't been certain how to react, but once she had the power necessary to avenge the death of a friend, she could see the value of her rage. Once channeled properly, her rage was far stronger than any other magic in the world.

Raven mediated on this as she remembered the day of the Justice Lords struck the United States government, and the moment she got her revenge. She had driven Slade to the brink of death with her new abilities until he was ready to accept it, yet once he had resolved to die, she took it upon herself to make his fate worse. And so she and Superman came to an agreement that he would be kept alive and made to pay for his crimes, receiving unimaginable tortures regularly as they forced him to live out the rest of his life in regret. Knowing that the man who ruined the lives of countless heroes was facing justice was one of the few comforts she had aside from killing.

Initially she hadn't been sure of what to think about this newfound pleasure that came with taking the lives of others, but in time she had embraced the thrills that came with it. It wasn't so much the end result, but the thrill of the hunt and the fear on her victims' faces that made the experience worthwhile. Otherwise it would have been just as meaningless to her as almost everything else had become in the last few years. The Justice Lords rarely complained about her work, but her reputation as a killer was formidable even when compared to Superman himself, who most people believed was the worst of the worst. Indeed, his outlook on the world had become just as warped as her own, perhaps even more considering that she was not as foolish as to believe that everything she did was righteous and good. After several hours of mulling these thoughts over in her mind, Raven opened her eyes, allowing her mind to refocus on the here and now.

The room around her was wide and cavernous like a cathedral, except that there were no benches or seats for other people to sit upon, just a single spot in the center of the room where she would lapse in and out of meditation. The platform was raised a few meters from the ground, with symbols and a magic circle permanently engraved on the stone surface. Aside from that there were several windows stationed at equal intervals and positioned high above her head, allowing light to pour into the room during daylight hours. Four torches were positioned in a pentagonal pattern around her meditation spot, and a pristine stone stairway connected the raised platform to the ground in the case she chose to walk rather than levitate to reach it.

Her appearance had changed in the last few years, having replaced her blue hood with black. The leotard she once wore had also been replaced by long black robes, which covered everything from her neck to her feet. She wore these to conceal the crimson markings, which now covered most of her body, a sign of her impurity that had appeared once she surrounded her being to the demonic side of her soul. Her blue hair had also grown longer, but she had grown used to it by now and wore her hair tied in an elegant braid, which ran down her back. Her face was noticeably darker than before, as though she was wearing eyeliner, but the effect was due to her lack of sleep and aloof disposition.

Raven descended down the stairs like a wordless shadow, her dark cloak billowing behind her as she approached one of the tables in her study. After shuffling through a stack of books, she reached down and pulled out a noticeably large tome, so old that many of the pages seemed to be falling out, the pages covered in dust and the binding having weakened with age. Raising her hand, she used her powers to open a wooden cabinet on the far wall. A large brown sack glided through the air from one of the shelves, landing gracefully atop her meditation platform. She floated upwards, touching down in her meditative position.

Shuffling through the many magical objects into the bag, the young sorceress quickly came across a small basin, which she immediately placed in front of her. A second wave of her hand prompted the sack's other contents to spring to life with dark energy, causing the bottles of rare potion ingredients to pour into the dish in her lap with perfect accuracy, not a single drop more or less than was needed was used before the floating bottles sealed themselves and returned to the sack. The shear efficiency with which she used her powers was something she had developed since Beast Boy's demise. Since she no longer spent any time goofing off with friends, the young demoness had devoted her life to practicing the dark arts.

Raven sat in silence for several more minutes as the contents of the basin began to swirl, a strange glow emanating from the liquid within as she chanted incantations of great complexity in relaxed whispers. Seeing that the ingredients had begun to settle, the sorceress passed her hand over the surface of the potion, causing a thin layer of smoke to rise from within. She prepared to finish the spell, when the sound of footsteps disrupted her focus. Changing her spell, she stirred the large bowl in her lap and muttered an incantation, causing the face of Dick Grayson to appear on the surface of the liquid. He seemed to be heading through the halls of the citadel at this very moment, although she was surprised that she had not sensed his approach sooner.

With an irritated snarl, she vanished the contents of her basin with a wave of her hand, looking up from her work in time to see a familiar silhouette standing on the far end of the room. Nightwing stood in between the double doors leading into her personal chamber, a slightly nervous expression on his face as he guessed that he had interrupted something by walking in. There was a time when everyone trusted her like a dear friend, but now most people found her brooding presence unnerving, and the reputation she had built while on the battlefield made even her old friends a little wary when they called upon her.

The young sorceress looked down upon him from her meditation platform, her eyes filled with indifference as she observed his silver costume and ponytail, a far cry from the black outfit he once wore, and drastically different from the brightly colored suit he wore back when he was Robin. "Why have you come here?" she addressed him, her icy tone reverberating ominously off of the cathedral-like walls.

Dick Grayson narrowed his eyes in response to these words, although he could not deny that her words had given him a small sense of dread. "How dare you speak to me like that, or have your forgotten that the Justice Lords placed you under my personal command. Even though we were once friends, you don't even seem to consider me and equal, let alone your direct superior."

"Don't be so naïve… If I did not consider you an equal, I would not have forgiven your intrusion so easily." Much to his surprise, the answer she gave seemed to indicate that Raven was more annoyed than angry with him at the moment.

"At the very least you could have been kind enough to turn on the lights." He added a little bit more comfortably.

She bore down upon him for another moment or two, her scrutinizing gaze creating an awkward silence as they stared each other in the eyes. A shadow of a smile crossed her face after several minutes, but the gesture seemed more bitter than happy. Although the bonds with her former friends had lessened considerably in the past few years, she still respected them to a certain extent. Seeing the former Titans leader again made her remember how stubborn he was, and also brought back some good memories that she had tried to forget. In her weaker moments, the young half-demon missed the way things used to be. When she noticed he was still staring up at her, Raven snapped her fingers, causing the chandelier above their heads to ignite. The dancing flames allowed them to see each other clearly, although the man's sharp features seemed almost sinister in the flickering light.

Realizing the implications of her current position, the young sorceress floated into the air and landed at the base of the stairs so that they were standing on equal ground. She did not walk forward to greet him, but at the same time she decided it was better to act somewhat civil around her fellow heroes. "I recently completed calmed the rebellion in Jump City… Don't tell me you have encountered yet another crisis in such a short period of time."

"Unfortunately that happens to be the case." Nightwing replied grimly, having relaxed slightly since his unwelcome entrance.

"I hope that this is something big, seeing how the last mission you sent me on was little more than a waste of my time and efforts." She replied coolly. "The fact remains that I am usually forced to perform commonplace duties that your pathetic troops were too incompetent to handle by themselves."

Nightwing raised his right hand as if to stop her. "It wasn't my idea to dispatch you, but the boss wanted the riot dealt with swiftly. Your reputation speaks for itself, so it was only natural that sending someone of your caliber to keep the populace in line was the best option we had."

The young sorceress raised an eyebrow even though she looked anything but amused by this last assertion. "Allow me to make this very clear…" She took a step towards her former friend, causing him to tense up slightly. "My loyalty lies with the Justice Lords out of convenience, but do not believe for a moment that I have any interest in becoming the Krytonian's loyal dog like the rest of you."

"It's not my place to argue with him." Dick Grayson responded with a note of bitterness. "I may have been given a seat at the table, but trying to dissuade him is almost impossible, and trying would only result in my own death."

"You disgust me… To think that the man I once called leader has become nothing more than a groveling worm." She retaliated bluntly.

He scowled in response to her behavior. "The world has changed, and so have all of us. Out of the original Titans, you were the one who contributed most to creating this new order, and don't deny that this sense of bloodlust you have developed was unintentional. It was only after the incident in Washington that you began to enjoying the art of killing, and because of this your reputation has become almost as bad as Superman."

"I can't believe I'm hearing criticism from someone like you." Raven responded in her angry monotone, although the way her eyes flashed slightly unnerved her former teammate. "Because of you we lost two team members instead of just one. Starfire's was converted into a drone for the Justice Lords, and yet you did nothing to stop them."

Nightwing looked as though he had just been slapped as he blinked, although the mask hid his inner sorrow. Despite his feelings concerning the matter, he spoke quite rationally when he answered her. "She is perfectly alive… Maybe you're just bitter because I was able to save the person I cared about most, even though you still blame yourself for what happened to Beast Boy that day."

Raven turned to face him, her eyes filled with a ferocity that was rarely seen. Rather than shout, she instinctively raised her hand in the air, causing her former friend's body to fly across the room like an old rag doll. He smashed headfirst into a shelf of books as he spiraled backwards through the air, barely recovering seconds before it crushed him into the ground. The young vigilante rolled forwards to avoid the impact, as several heavy books came crashing down right where he had been lying seconds before. Nightwing took a defensive stance as he faced off against the demoness, landing on his feet and withdrawing a pair of birdarangs from his trademark utility belt.

She lowered he hand and looked away. "I regret it…" she answered with a note of hesitation.

When she did not strike again, he put his weapons away, although he still eyed he cautiously. "It wasn't your fault that Beast Boy was captured, even though you blame yourself for it. I can't say that he would have wanted you to become what you are today."

"A lot of things that happened that he wouldn't have wanted…" Her expression seemed to soften at the mention of her deceased friend, although the resentment in her voice did not go away.

Nightwing approached again, having regained his composure after her sudden attack, a sense of comfort returned once he was within a certain distance of her. The two heroes stood in silence as they considered each other through narrowed eyes, but she was the first to recover. "What's done is done… If the aforementioned mission was as urgent as you claim, tell me why you are here and be done with it."

He exhaled a breath and decided to continue his explanation as if their brief exchange had not happened. "Our sources have recently located a large nest of rebels hiding out in this sector, indicated by the sightings of some of our most prominent targets. Superman gave me the order to assemble an elite team to take them down, although he gave us permission to do it by whatever means necessary."

"Is Batman with them?" She looked slightly interested by the prospect, although he shook his head in response.

"Unfortunately he was not seen among these rebels, but there's no doubt in my mind that he is behind this particular uprising." Nightwing answered. "This isn't just a rabble of small protesters that we found, but a large group led by former heroes who turned against our rule. Our spies report that big fish like Captain Marvel and Green Arrow were among them, meaning we might have stumbled upon one of the rebellion's main bases."

Raven folded her arms with a look of indifference, although she seemed a little intrigued. "If this information is correct, then we will need to have a decent team to counter this threat. Who have you assembled so far?"

The former boy wonder nodded in response. "The boss said I was allowed to take anyone available for this mission, so I managed to assemble Killowat, Hawkman, and Red Tornado, including you and Starfire, we've probably got more than enough military force to take care of this problem."

"I sincerely hope that you have a plan." She replied challengingly. "Either way, I might as well enjoy this little excursion while we have the chance. Perhaps enemies with real power will prove somewhat entertaining, considering how bored I've grown of those miserable crowd control assignments you seem so keen on giving me."

"All right then, let's be off." Nightwing accepted her words without complaint, although he was silently grateful for her compliance.

He turned and headed for the exit, his back facing the dark-clad sorceress as they headed out, although several meters separated them he was glad she was being so cooperative. "Are you coming?" he called back. She could have easily used her powers to make traveling easier, but he took her lack of such practices as a form of civil disobedience.

Despite her so-called loyalty to the Justice Lords, she remained true to her word and felt no obligation to help them unless she directly ordered to participate in a mission. He guessed that killing also kept her weary mind occupied, which was probably why she had grown to enjoy it so much in the past few years, although there were times when she seemed to repent for her actions… Raven had always been a very complicated young woman, but now she seemed like two different people occupying the same body. One was the stoic killer she had grown to be, while traces of the hero she had been still seemed to surface from time to time.

Raven reached behind her head as she followed, discretely pulling her hood into place as they proceeded through the hallways of her citadel. The young sorceress seemed completely at home in the dingy halls, but her former friend was much less comfortable. Although he wasn't really unnerved by her dwelling, the statues lining the main hall looked as though they would come to life and attack. The stone giants depicted monstrous birds with blade-like talons and glowing red eyes. He ignored the stares emanating from the statues and continued onwards as he walked along the red carpet, briefly wondering why she had chosen such a creepy décor.

Once they had passed through the large wooden doors and into the yard, the young sorceress caught sight of her superior's ship in the distance. They had landed a considerable distance away from her temple-like home for safety purposes, but at this rate she was growing tired of this monotonous procession. For a moment, the cloaked woman seemed to grow in size as her form twisted and grew, her cloak flapping in the night breeze as it extended to cover her feet like a shadow draped over her features. Nightwing turned in surprise and shielded his face from the supernatural wind as he saw her shadow engulf his own as the shroud of darkness covered them both.

A strange spinning sensation filled his stomach, but when he looked up, they were standing on the bridge of his cruiser. Slightly unnerved by her short-range teleportation spell, he glanced at his own body to make sure that nothing was wrong, before seeing that she had returned to her normal self as well. "That… was completely unnecessary." He commented with a disapproving expression.

"If the mission is really urgent, then we shouldn't waste any more time then necessary." Raven seemed to dismiss his authority with an irate expression of her own.

Before he could respond, the doors leading into the control room opened up, revealing several more people on board the vessel. Kilowatt entered, closely followed by Starfire, Hawkman and the Red Tornado. The young sorceress sized up the members of the team as she compared their different strengths and weaknesses. She glanced over at the Tamaranean Princess for signs of recognition, but she displayed no signs of emotion at all. It wasn't as if Raven had expected more, considering that the implants in her head had focused her mind only to follow orders.

"The coordinates have already been set into the aircraft's navigation system." Nightwing explained to the other heroes. "Everyone to your stations! Once we arrive, it's going to be an all out war…"

Earth 2- Titans Prison

Cyborg sat in his office with a glum expression as he ploughed through another stack of paperwork this evening. Being the warden of the Titans Prison, he found himself busier than ever handling the constant duties that came along with being in charge of a government institution. Of course the job was stressful in more ways than one. The required paperwork was the least of his worries, seeing how he was responsible for everything that went on in this place. As the chief guard of the world's most important penitentiary, the prisoners were also his responsibility, as was carrying out the sentences handed down to him by the Justice Lords. He had served them faithfully for years now, but lately his relationship with the top Seven Commanders had worsened.

Although he had done his best to prevent the mass breakout, the higher-ups had ultimately held him responsible for the escape of many of the prison's most dangerous inmates, many of which were former heroes who refused to follow the teachings of Absolute Justice. Had Nightwing not shielded him from major repercussions, he feared that Superman might have personally dealt him the punishment for his failure to prevent the mass breakout. Admittedly there were a lot of people who wanted his job, and he would have been easy enough to replace. At times like this, Cyborg realized that even though things had changed, Dick Grayson was still his friend.

Things were different tonight. He had struggled with himself for the last few hours before making the decision to submit the most recent report to the Watchtower. It pained him to do it, but no matter how much the Beast Boy sitting in the cell downstairs looked and acted like his best friend, he forced himself to remember that the two were not the same person. The green changeling imprisoned in the high security sector was from a dimension where evil ran rampant on Earth, the main reason being because that world's heroes were far too weak-willed to do what had to be done to ensure the safety of the populace. The heroes of that world had also poisoned the mind of this world's Batman and attempted to ruin the lasting tranquility the Justice Lords had created, thus this version of Beast Boy had to be dealt with to ensure the peace and stability of this world.

Or at least, that's what Cyborg kept telling himself… The feeling of dread building in his chest did not go away as he forced himself to read another prison document. He knew it had been a bad idea to speak to that Beast Boy mockery to begin with, but ever since their conversation, he couldn't help but think of him as the friend he had lost to President Luthor's anti-superhero crusade. The sense of defiance, the stubbornness, and the corny sense of humor even in the face of adversity were all exactly like the man who had been his best buddy.

To make matters worse, his last prison report with details of the green shape shifter's recent incarceration had been processed, despite having been submitted less than two day's ago. They had contacted him personally only hours ago to receive some more specific details of what had happened, and naturally the warden had been forced to tell them everything he knew about it. Even so, the Justice Lords were planning on sending someone else to assess the situation, and the very thought of seeing them here made his circuits jolt. The half-robot hero had been loyal to their cause for a very long time now, but at the same time he also knew that they only came in person when they considered the situation to be serious. Otherwise, they would have trusted him to handle things instead.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, he decided it was probably best to drown out these emotions for now. He continued working for several more minutes until the encounter he had been dreading finally asserted itself. A swift knock on the door quickly caught his attention, but his hesitation did not prevent the guard from bursting in anyway. He knew that the lowly staff would never enter his personal chambers without his permission, unless there was someone who outranked him behind the action.

The man tumbled into the room with a hasty salute, his simple police uniform and badge betraying his status as a guard of the prison. "I apologize for the interruption sir, but you have an important visitor." He exclaimed quickly.

Before either of them could speak, a third person entered the room. The warden immediately recognized her cool blue eyes, long blonde hair, and shapely figure, but the most prominent part of her appearance was the black and white outfit emblazoned with Superman's insignia. Of all the people he could have encountered in this situation, she was one of the last he wanted to see. He concealed his displeasure and chose to say nothing in response to her casual entry, although being one of the Seven Commanders there was nothing he could do or say in response. Supergirl wore an amused expression as the guard dismissed himself, closing the door behind him with a deliberate force.

After listening to make sure that no one else would intrude, the female hero turned to face the warden while raising an eyebrow in response to his relative silence. "Apparently you lack manners seeing how you were not present to welcome me to this hovel, but since we have business to attend to I suppose the pleasantries can be avoided."

Cyborg looked up from his work with a suspicious expression. "Since you showed up, I suppose the big dogs up in space don't think I can handle the running of this joint by myself."

"My cousin told me to pop down here and take care of your little situation personally." The blonde hero added with a smirk. She sauntered up to his desk in a seductive manner, placing her hands on the opposite side and leaning forward so that they were face-to-face. "Of course, with the current circumstances and the recent jailbreak, you'll forgive me if the rest of us find your work less than satisfactory."

The metallic warden did not give into her taunts, nor did not back down. "Now you listen up! Batman was involved in that mess and we did he best we could, despite the fact that your intelligence network never even knew about the attack beforehand. Had you guys been better at doing your jobs, it would have been a lot easier for us to do ours."

Supergirl stepped away from his desk, her eyes flashing dangerously at this last assertion. "How dare you blame this on us… Your recent failure was unforgivable, and you know that there would have been much more serious consequences had Nightwing not defended you position at the council meeting." She seemed to find delight in his annoyance and decided that rubbing salt into the wound would be all the better. "As a matter of fact, your friend has been speaking out of line quite a bit lately. So much that Superman is beginning to question to wisdom of including him among the top echelons of the Justice Lords."

Cyborg bit his tongue to hide his look of outrage and took a sharp intake of breath to calm his nerves. He remembered how their leader's cousin enjoyed toying with her enemies and decided not to take her words at face value. "I don't see why I should believe you without any evidence, but for now I believe you said you needed to take care of something."

"Yes I did… There's the matter of that green louse you captured recently." She replied in a casual tone, although her devilish expression betrayed her true intentions before she even spoke. "They told me everything, so I guess that there's no other choice then but to make sure that he won't be a threat to the security of this world."

The metallic hero gave her an empty expression as he considered the circumstances. "Maybe you should consider the situation before we…"

"Just take me to him." She interjected with a note of authority, her eyes glossing red for a moment in anticipation of using her heat vision.

The warden recognized this gesture all too well and seemed to shrink back in defeat. Once she had gone ahead of him, he closed the entry behind her and took the lead, his legs carrying him ahead of her as though he had no control. Needless to say he did not particularly enjoy her company, but his job and position were at stake right now. Their footsteps echoed throughout the brightly lit hallways as the two heroes continued through the jail, but something told him that whatever Supergirl had planned was not going to be good for the prisoner in question. Whenever they ran into people, the guards would step aside and allow the two heroes to pass, sometimes pressing themselves against walls in narrower hallways as if they were afraid of offending the superhuman authorities.

"Worms…" the female hero replied in response to the fearful guards.

Cyborg shook his head in disapproval, but dared not to speak out as they continued onwards to the lower levels. After taking the elevator down to the heart of the prison's basement, they reached a large metallic door so thick that even his arrogant companion seemed surprised by its vastness. She shifted impatiently as her guide produced a plastic key card from a hidden compartment in his robotic form. No sooner had he slid the card through the slot, that the door gave off a loud hissing noise. The metallic plate parted with a clang as several doors separated, revealing the hallways beyond.

"Ladies first." He replied with a sarcastic tone and a forced smile.

Supergirl gave him a gentle shove and continued down the set of stair and into the large area beyond. The lowest basement of the prison was a caged facility where they kept some of the more dangerous prisoners. Since there were only two inmates left on this level, it didn't take her long to discover the sleeping forms of Beast Boy and Slade Wilson in their respective cells. The robotic warden followed along in her wake, but seemed to focus on the unoccupied cells rather than the one that held the green changeling. Supergirl's reaction was completely opposite, and she looked on seeing the sheer number of security cameras and noting the behavior collars shackled around the prisoner's necks. With no access to their superpowers, and top-notch surveillance, she was mildly surprised that so many people on this level had managed to escape to freedom.

The villain lying down in the opposite side of the room had long trained his sense to detect any abnormalities and had awoken around the time the two heroes entered, but chose to feign sleep in the hopes that he would learn something valuable. Although missing his right eye, Slade kept his left eye open very slightly, silently adjusting his neck just right so that he could get a decent look at the opposite cell without it being too obvious that he was paying attention. The voices he heard heading this was were recognizable enough, and since they rarely received visitors outside of meal times, he was happy to listen to something besides his own voice.

"Time to wake up." Supergirl replied in a falsely sweet voice.

Supergirl immediately gravitated towards the bars holding the green hero, her eyes alive with amusement. The warden followed after her at a quiet pace in an attempt not to wake the prisoners, his mind remembered for a moment how Beast Boy always slept like a rock. The thought made him think of the time he had drawn crude cartoons on his friend's face while he was sleeping, but he suppressed the memory immediately in the hopes that the sense of sentimentality would also disappear. When the female hero's words did not wake the slumbering shape shifter, Kara took a deep breath and exhaled in his direction, the power of her inhuman lungs sending the sleeping boy headfirst into the nearby wall.

"Ouch!" Beast Boy awoke with a start, his face contorted in pain as he slid into a sitting position on the ground and began rubbing his head. "Phew… Talk about falling out of bed at night. What's going on?"

The green hero looked up just in time to see his visitors, his eyes widening in surprise as he recognized the symbol on the girl's torso. Cyborg stood to her right, but his face remained impassive, and he showed no sign of prior recognition when he spoke. "You have a very special visitor today… The youngest of the Justice Lords."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, although it really is unfortunate that you won't have a chance to get to know me better." Supergirl stepped closer to the bars with a strangely cheerful expression, her eyes flashing menacingly.

"Why, are you going somewhere?" he answered with a small glare.

She raise and eyebrow in amusement. "Think again, froggy." She mocked his green complexion with a small laugh that would have been cute had it come from anyone else.

Beast Boy seemed to tense up slightly, having seen this scenario in hundreds of movie and television shows before. The look on her face along with the killing intent he felt from her seemed almost too obvious, and without his powers he was defenseless. If the rumors he head were true and this woman really did have all of Superman's powers, then there was little he would be able to do if she wanted to end his life. Something in his chest told him that even in a fair fight, he would probably lose against such a powerful opponent. As the Mento once told him, a true hero is willing to do whatever it takes to fight against injustice, and if death was what awaited him, then so be it…

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the green changeling decided that if this were the end, he would at least go down with some pride. "You people really are depraved!" he added defiantly. "I haven't done anything wrong, and it's pretty obvious what you guys want to do to me. It's the answer that any totalitarian dictator would choose."

Supergirl cracked her knuckles casually as she faced her victim again. "The dimension you come from is a world of chaos ruled by petty political factions, the same mess that our world once was until the Justice Lords fixed it." She replied with a more serious expression. "You are a hero from that world, and thus the ideals you hold may prove to be a threat to the prosperity we have worked so hard to create on our world. That is what makes you a criminal in the eyes of the world…"

"The world… Don't make me laugh." Beast Boy answered with a similar emptiness. "You guys just want me dead because my beliefs might not match your own."

Supergirl shrugged off his comment with a sense of irony. "It appears as though you are blind to the concept true justice, but either way I've grown tired of this conversation already… Since you seem to know why I came here tonight, then it's only natural that I carry out the sentence."

Cyborg said nothing and turned his head away with a look of regret as his superior wrenched the bars of the prison cell apart with her bare hands, a look of vindictive madness dancing in her eyes as she stepped through the destroyed entry and into the cell. Beast Boy attempted to scurry away, but she reached down and grabbed the front of the green hero's shirt and plucked him from his spot on the floor. He attempted to pry her hands off, but she was strong and her grip was like a vice. Although the female hero was clearly shorter than him, she remedied this by floating into the air with her powers and pinning him to the wall of the cell with one hand, his flailing arms useless against the woman's vastly superior strength.

With his arms pinned against the walls, she stared into his eyes and looked him directly in the eye, their gazes locking with renewed intensity. "Do you have any last words?" she asked with an amused half-smile.

"Yeah, but not for you…" Beast Boy replied. He turned his gaze to the half-robot hero standing across the room for a moment. "I expected my best friend wouldn't have let the Justice Lords force-feed him this crap about absolute justice. To think that one of the smartest dudes I knew turned out to be more of an idiot then I used to be."

Cyborg looked up with a pained expression, but before the green hero could see, Supergirl grabbed her victim's chin and craned his neck around so that they were facing each other again. "Well that was touching, wasting your last breath to insult a former friend." she mused sarcastically. "Now where were we?"

"Do your worst!" he hissed into her pitiless face.

"Oh don't worry about that, because I intend to!" she replied with a mischievous expression. After a moment her eyes gave off a red glow. Beast Boy turned his head and closed his eyes as he braced himself for the ultimate punishment, only further enticing the menacing woman. "You can scream now if you want…"

Note to Readers: I have a feeling this chapter wasn't great, but I never said that writers don't have off days. In addition I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes, but it's usually late at night when I write this story. Thanks to everyone who gave me ideas or reviewed, and I hope for continued support due to my lack of inspiration for this story. I hope a lot of people will continue to REVIEW my story, because I deeply appreciate critiques, and I could really use some IDEAS. I like when readers give me story because they often come up with good ones that I can use.

If you guys want to see something happen, please let me know and I think its good I will consider it. As for those of you worrying about the Earth 1 Raven, she will appear in the next chapter. I hope that the Earth 2 Raven seemed to have two halves to her personality, because that's what I was going for. Until next time, I hope you liked the cliffhanger…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: So it Begins…**

Earth 2- Titans Prison

Beast Boy turned his head and closed his eyes as he braced himself for the ultimate punishment, only further enticing the menacing woman. "You can scream now if you want…" Supergirl added with a note of pleasure.

Her eyes glowed bright red, the depths becoming cold and pitiless as she prepared to end the life of yet another victim. Although she had originally respected the responsibilities that came with having such deadly abilities, Kara had become noticeably demented in the last few years as she became drunk with her own power. In a way, she had followed Superman's example, as both of the alien heroes had become noted for this frightening side of their personalities. She paused for a second or two to admire the fear in her victim's face, but seemed to grow angry when she saw none. Beast Boy was determined to die with his dignity, something that did not sit well with his executioner.

Supergirl scowled in annoyance s she prepared to kill the green-skinned menace, but a small blast of energy soared over her shoulder and made a crack in the nearby wall before she could carry out the sentence. Surprised by this turn of events, she turned around to face her attacker to find the warden with his arm cannon raised in her direction. Her victim gasped in surprise as he realized what had happened, both of them turning towards the source of the attack. Although he was shocked by this sudden twist, his captor looked positively furious, something that seemed out of place on her face.

"Let my buddy go!" he sneered angrily. Cyborg took a step forward as he wrenched the bars off the hinges with his other hand, his blaster pointed at her.

"Oh my… It looks like you've forgotten your place." The female commander slammed Beast Boy's form onto the ground with a single fluid movement and placed a foot on his back before turning her attention to the immediate threat. "To think that a mechanical freak like you would be dumb enough to raise a hand against one of the Seven Justice Lords."

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything else, the blonde woman shot forward like a bullet and planted on a punch in his midsection. The warden doubled over in pain as his metallic chest plate crumbled beneath her hand, the blow knocking him through the brick wall on the opposite side of the cell. Wrenching his eyes open, he rolled sideways as her fist came down again, taking advantage of her opening by firing a blast of energy. His attack hit her dead on, allowing him a moment to fire a projectile into the air. Reacting quickly, he blasted the device, releasing a thick wall of smoke, which provided enough cover for him to move back towards the cell where his friend was being held.

Although the smog was thick, his robotic eye allowed was unaffected by it, giving him a momentary advantage. Beast Boy glanced up through the smokescreen as the half-robot emerged from within, stopping when he was standing a few feet away from the cell. A blank expression filled his face for a moment as he stood in awe of what had just happened, his eyes filling with horror as he caught sight of the giant crack in his friend's metallic torso. Cyborg scrambled over and flipped a panel on his arm, pressing a quick sequence of buttons on his arm as he typed in the prison security clearance codes.

"You saved me…" the green changeling replied with a stupefied expression.

"Not now! That blast I sent at Supergirl used up a lot more of my power than usual, and something tells me that no matter how powerful it was, it won't keep her down for more than few more seconds." Cyborg replied with an expression of mingled panic and annoyance.

Beast Boy looked surprised by his sudden change of heart, but couldn't help but feel a sudden rush of respect for the half-robot. "I thought you were one of them…" he began nervously. "Why are you helping me all of a sudden?"

"Shut up before I change my mind!" the warden barked angrily. After a second his expression softened considerably, and in that moment a shadow of the hero he had been so long ago spread across his face. "I'm only going to say this once… For the last couple of days I tried not to think of you as he buddy I lost, but no matter how much I tried to tell myself you weren't the same guy, the worse it got."

The green hero held out a hand to his friend. "It's good to see that the old Cyborg I knew is still in there somewhere!" he replied with a quick nod. "Now let's hurry before that crazy blonde wakes up!"

The robotic hero nodded with a similar expression as he continued his work. After a few more seconds of punching in numbers on the pad built into his arm, the robotic warden finally entering the codes. Beast Boy's eyes moved own towards the restraint around his neck as the lights began flashing again, but instead of tightening, the behavior collar fell loosened with a resounding click, splitting into two pieces and falling to the floor seconds later. The prisoner rubbed the back of his neck where the device had been moments before, a look of relief settling onto his face as he remembered what Slade had told him. Now that he mo longer had that metallic monstrosity around his throat, he could use his powers again without limitation.

"Thanks a lot, dude." Beast Boy replied with genuine gratitude. His friend looked as though he was about to say something else, but the sight of a familiar shape darting toward them quickly shattered the peaceful moment.

"Get out of here now!" Cyborg pushed the green-skinned hero away as Supergirl plowed into him with the power of a freight train, the sheer force causing him to crumple beneath her superior powers.

Beast Boy vacated the cell and looked up and down the aisle for a chance of escape, but his eyes gravitated towards the fight happening behind him. The female hero hammered Cyborg in the shin with a roundhouse kick, causing him to stumble backwards in pain. He raised his own fist to strike back, but she caught it in the palm of her much smaller hand, crushing several of his fingers with a vice-like squeeze. He bit his tongue as the vindictive woman forced his body into a kneeling position with one hand, her alien strength many times greater than anything his partially mechanical muscles could match. Once he was down, she raised her fists into the air and nailed him into the floor with a well placed smash to the back.

Supergirl paused midway through the beating as she remembered the real reason she had come down here, her face twisting into a smile as she noticed the escaped prisoner standing across the room. "Really courageous for your friend here to take the beating that should have been yours, although considering how dumb he was to fight me, I can't say it was a compliment."

The green changeling looked down at Cyborg's broken form, nothing the patches of blood staining his metallic body in several place. His face twisted into an angry scowl, but the man on the floor reached out to him with a pleading expression. "Get out of here!" The former prisoner looked up at him with a worried expression, but he shook his head firmly. "This'll all be a waste if she kills both of us."

"Shut up!" She backhanded her captive across the face, the small slap sending him back to the ground with a crash. "We gave you status and power under this new order and you threw it away to save someone, even knowing that the person isn't the same friend you knew. This really does surprise me, since I never believed for a second that you would throw your life away over something so pathetic."

"You're the one who's stupid…" Cyborg's expression twisted into a cocky smile as he raised his opposite hand. Her eyes widened as he fired another blast at point blank range, the energy stream knocking her off of her feat instantly. The robotic hero stood back up with noticeable difficulty, a series of sparks erupted from his cannon arm. "Giving me a few seconds to charge my weapon was your mistake."

The green changeling glanced at the hole in the wall where Supergirl had smashed through, quickly running over to see if his friend was all right, his body swaying slightly before falling down. Beast Boy supported him just long enough for the metal hero to settle into a leaning position against the nearest wall. He hissed slightly in pain as the spots where she struck him began to throb, but being half robot meant that repairs could always be done so long as he was still alive. Biting back his pain, he stood straight up again with considerable effort and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.

"You idiot, I told you to leave." He explained with annoyance.

"It's no good if you don't survive either. The Beast Boy from your dimension would never have wanted a friend to die because of him! I know this because I wouldn't want that either." He replied with an equally stubborn expression.

Cyborg opened his mouth again, but they were interrupted by a familiar stirring coming from the opposite room, made more unsettling by the glowing spot on the wall behind them. The robotic hero dove onto the floor as he realized what was going on, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by his fellow Titan. Beast Boy leapt backwards as a pair of heat beams shot a hold through the wall, coming very close to hitting the place where he had been standing moments before. Supergirl cursed to herself as she had been watching them with her X-ray vision, and planted her fist into the wall, causing it to crumble as the two heroes scrambled out of the way. The half-metal hero shot another blast at her as he stood back up and broke into a run, but she repelled it by holding her hands out in front of her, at this point having grown tired of toying around with her victims.

It only took the green shape shifter a second to make a decision. Despite what his friend had said, he wouldn't allow him to fight alone against such an opponent. He had never fought Superman before, but if his sidekick was this powerful when she was just playing around with them, he shuddered to imagine how deadly the Man of Steel would be if he ever fought against him. If fighting her was the only way that they could get out of this mess, then he had no other choice but to risk it. His friend so badly beaten up was something he had rarely seen, seeing how Cyborg was so tough and durable due to his robotic parts, yet their current opponent had severely damaged his metal alloy with barehanded punches, something that even the giant robot Atlas had not been able to do.

The female hero glared at them, looking irritated by their resistance. "That's it, I'm done playing with you weaklings." She replied menacingly.

"So am I!" the former Doom Patrol member squared up to face her with a defiant expression, although he knew that there was very little chance he could prevail.

Beast Boy watched her movements carefully, knowing that the alien's super speed would complicate any attempts to flee. The robotic warden waited in silence as his best friend glanced back at him, his subtle gestures indicating that he had a plan in mind. Although he had expected Supergirl to make the first move, the green hero dashed in her direction with renewed vigor, his eyes blazing as she shot forward to intercept him halfway. Using his powers, he morphed into and dashed beneath her guard, causing her to looked down in search of him. With an irritated scowl she turned around and began shooting her heat vision at the green rodent, only realizing her mistake at the last second.

"What the hell!" she fumed with a murderous expression.

The mechanical hero raised his cannon and blasted her in the stomach, stunning her for less than a second, allowing him to slam her in the stomach with his metal fist. Although she bore no sign of injury from his attack, the impact sent the Justice Lord flying back in the opposite direction. She turned with an angry growl to address the situation, but Beast Boy had actually planned this from the beginning. He transformed into an elephant, his sheer size causing the room to shake violently as he filled the space. Using his newfound strength, the green animal charged her with all of his might, knocking the wind out of her.

Cyborg ducked into the cell where his friend had been held as the female hero soared past them, her body slamming clean through the wall at the end of the room. She attempted to get up, but he pointing his cannon at her again, this time releasing a large net which bound her to the ground. She tore at the net with her hands, but the shiny material was unfamiliar to her and only stretched in response to her struggling. The female hero attempted to fly away, but the warden did not bother to spare her a second glance as he shot a second blast at the ceiling, causing an avalanche of debris to all from above and onto her in mid flight. He repeated the action several more times until the broken bits covered the hole in the wall leading to the room where Supergirl was still struggling. Beast Boy returned to his human form, but the opposing Titan ran past him with a slightly frenzied expression.

"Hurry up and follow me!" the mechanical hero ordered. "That net was made out of a strong alloy I created, but with her superpowers it won't buy us much time."

"Can't she fly?" Beast Boy questioned nervously.

Cyborg shook his head quickly as they ran for it. "The net was charged with an energy that disrupts metahuman powers, similar to technology that Lex Luthor once developed to use on superheroes, but I couldn't duplicate it completely." He explained hastily. "It won't completely cancel out powers as strong as hers, but it should buy us some time!"

The green hero nodded as they ascended the staircase leading to the next floor, leaving behind an amused prisoner. Slade had seen the entire spectacle from his own cell, although he had been hoping that the commotion would have allowed him a chance to escape as well. His eyes glistened slightly as he watched them flee the scene, a look of amusement appearing on his weathered face. The sound of Supergirl's struggling made him wary, but he had seen quite enough of what had happened.

Slade Wilson let out a quiet laugh, a sense of life returning to his face that had not been present in years. "And so it begins…" he mused to himself.

As the two Titans fled, the half-robot used his security clearance as warden to open all the doors in their path, occasionally pressing the buttons on his arm to instantly undo and reset the electric locks, which seemed to be built into most of the doors of the prison. They tore through the halls as several guards turned their heads to watch, but they did not care question this potentially suspicious activity so long as their superior was involved. Although most of them wondered why he was running around, Beast Boy had been wise enough to transform into a dog, partially hiding him from prying eyes while allowing himself to keep up with the robotic man's superior agility.

When they entered an abandoned hall several floors above the place where he had been held captive, the green changeling returned to his human form and ran a little faster to catch up. "So, where are you taking us anyway?" he glanced at his friend with a panicked expression.

"This way leads to my personal quarters, so we won't run into too many people around here." Cyborg answered through hurried breaths.

They rounded another corner and ducked into an elevator, but the lift shot up with incredible speed, the doors opening to reveal a remarkably familiar living space, very similar to the living room that had been in the Titans Tower he remembered from his own dimension. A sense of déjà vu came to him as he saw a hauntingly familiar couch and the large plasma screen television hanging on the wall, but he ignored these things and continued down the nearest hallway leading into another familiar place. Back home this series of hallways near the top of the tower had been used to house the main team, but the room they entered next was starkly different from what he remembered from his home.

Back there it had been Raven's bedroom, but now it had been converted into a finely decorated office with several bookshelves filled to the brim with important resource materials, and a pair of filing cabinets behind the desk. There was a small glass cabinet filled with several familiar objects, including an old Teen Titans communicator and several other bits of memorabilia from past missions, but their purpose had become purely decorative. The green hero looked around with around at the fancy drapes and plush carpets, the sheer luxury of the place giving him the impression that this was the warden's office.

"Nice new digs…" Despite the fact that they were still in danger, the green joker could help but comment. "I see working for those jerks had some benefits."

Cyborg looked slightly ashamed as he realized the truth of his position, and for the first time in years he could see things clearly. The system he chose to support had created a false peace, rooted in tyranny, and although it seemed to work, no one had any choice but to support them or suffer the consequences. He wished he could say something, but the shame he felt made him temporarily neglect the mess they were in. Meanwhile Beast Boy crossed the room with a curious expression, but one of the objects inside the curio cabinet caught his attention.

He stared at a framed picture behind the glass, depicting the five members of their original team. It was obvious that the photo was quite old, seeing how the heroes it depicted were all smiling, even Raven, whose shadowy expression seemed to hide a sense of inner peace. The warden noticed this gesture and seemed to understand, his own thoughts returning to the days when things were so much simpler, and the world still had some sense of real justice. He wished he could say something, but the sound of rumbling from below quickly caught his attention, jarring them both back to the present peril.

"Yikes, what one Earth was that?" the green hero screamed frantically.

"It sounds like Psycho girl is looking for us. Knowing her, she probably already knows where I took you, so we gotta make this fast!" Cyborg crossed over to his desk and began typing commands into his computer. Seconds later, a panel behind the desk slid open to reveal a trapdoor leading down into the floor below. "This passageway leads to an escape vessel I made for emergencies like this… Get in…"

Beast Boy glanced down at the dark passage hesitantly, but he sighed with a sense of relief as the thought of getting to safety. "Great, so that means we can both get out of here!" he declared with a triumphant smile.

To his dismay, the robotic warden shook his head. "The pod only holds one person…" he answered with a downcast expression.

"You're kidding me? I won't just jet off and leave my best friend behind the deal with that maniac alone." The shape shifter exclaimed.

Cyborg's expression hardened considerably as he the floor direct beneath his feet rumbled, his hand wrapping around his friend's shoulders as he shook him violently. "Don't be an idiot!" he screamed into the other man's face. His seething glare vanished again as he released his friend's shoulders, and he looked away as if pained by the sight of the green hero. "This is the least I can do for helping those jerks make this world the way it is, and for letting my best friend die to last time."

The opposing hero opened his mouth. "But what about…"

"Shut up and listen!" the warden commanded with a sense of authority, beads of sweat running down his face as the ground shook again. "The pods beneath this spot has an autopilot programmed into the system that should take you to a small bunker I built. No one else but me knows about this, and the stealth device built into the craft should stop anyone else from following you."

The green-skinned hero looked as though he was going to argue, but was forced to leap sideways as the door leading into the office was blasted off its hinges. They both avoided the flying door as it smashed the through the large window behind them, showering the room with shards of broken glass. Supergirl stepped into the room with a cheerful expression as she prepared to carry out the sentence she was tasked with, but in this moment Cyborg shielded his best friend with his body and as Beast Boy blocked the glass from getting in his eyes. Using this opportunity, he shoved the smaller hero backwards, causing him to stumble into the trap door behind the desk and into the cockpit of the small escape vehicle below. Their enemy attempted to follow, but Cyborg slammed a button on his desk, causing the vehicle to start up.

"Don't bother resisting, I'll just kill him once I finish with you!" Supergirl replied with a furious expression. "You can't save your friend… You can't even save yourself!"

The warden only smiled as he watched the vehicle rocketing out of the small bay where it was kept into the night sky. Beast Boy regained his senses moments later, his eyes widening in horror as he realized where he was. The Titans Tower Prison was quickly growing smaller as his craft rocketed away, with him trapped inside the small cockpit barely big enough to hold one person let alone two. He scuttled around frantically and tried to pry open the pod or override the autopilot, but the computer refused to allow him to do either.

Back at the prison Supergirl scowled in annoyance as she watched the craft fly away. She prepared to fly after him, but the warden stepped up to challenge her. "What did you do?" she fumed dangerously.

Cyborg looked back at her with a shadow of a smile. "I just did what the rest of us failed to do all those years ago… I saved the life of my best friend."

"You won't be forgiven for this treachery, even if your friend is one of the top brass." She hissed venomously, her expression twisting into a sickening smile moments later. "My cousin is the one who really holds all of the cards, and as long as he does your punishment for this will be far worse than death."

The robotic hero raised his energy cannon as his previous injuries worsened, causing blood to leak from his newly opened wounds. He knew that this might be the end, but was not planning on going down without a fight. As Supergirl smashed her fist into his stomach, his eyes wandered back towards the rapidly shrinking aircraft. No matter what anyone told him, he felt honored to stand on the side of true justice once again, now that an old friend he thought was gone forever had opened his eyes.

Trapped in the aircraft, Beast Boy watched in horror as a series of explosions and crimson beams shot forth from the top floors of the tower. He prepared to use his powers and escape the confinement of the small pod, but something else quickly caught his attention. The wind of the flying machine appeared to be turned invisible, temporarily stealing his attention for a moment as he watched the stealth device activate. This light show mesmerized him for a moment, but second later the craft swerved in a different direction, the flashes vanishing into the night as they became intermingled with the now distant lights of Jump City. Realizing how far this machine had taken him in a matter of seconds, the green hero pounded his hands against the safety glass cockpit. He called out to his friend, but no one could hear him.

In the ruined warden's office, Supergirl had little trouble dealing with her weakened opponent. Seeing him lying on the ground gave her an insane rush, the blood leaking out of his mouth, and one of his mechanical arms having been torn off and forcibly discarded. She seized him by the throat and help up his broken form with relative ease. Although his robotic parts could easily be detached from his body, many of his body parts still had organic components that allowed him to bleed if brutally punctured. She had severely damaged him, perhaps more than anyone had ever done before.

"So warden… Do you have anything witty to say to me now?" she mused with a sarcastic note as her gaze hardened.

To her surprise, Cyborg choked back his pain, a look of genuine happiness leaking through for the first time in years. "If you did it now, I wouldn't have any regrets." He replied with an arrogant smirk.

She relaxed her grip slightly as she saw his expression, looking slightly unnerved by his reaction in the face of death, but the notion gave her an even better idea. "Although I could just end your miserable life right now, that would be way too boring." Supergirl mused with a devilish expression. "I'm sure that Superman can think up something much… much… worse… … …"

Earth 2- Nightwing's Ship

Dick Grayson stood on the bridge of his ship as a pair of workers piloted the craft, closely watching for signs of error. Several of the heroes he had brought with him were waiting in the area below, preparing for the battle that was sure to follow, although as his personal bodyguard, Starfire had not left his side for even an instant. Although her mind had been altered to a state that made her seem like a robot, sometimes he still saw signs of her old self, hiding just underneath the surface, as though the girl he once loved was trapped inside of the thing she had been forced to become.

As his thoughts trailed off, one of the workers noticed something on the monitor. "Sir, we are currently approaching the target zone. Requesting permission to land the craft."

"Denied…" Nightwing answered him. "We already have this planned out, so just be prepared to drop the bombs. Even if it doesn't finish the job, it'll probably force them to reveal their position to us. One you do this, just open the bottom hatch of the ship and let the rest of us will handle the situation from there. Circle overhead until I say otherwise…"

"Yes sir!" the pilot replied with a small salute.

Meanwhile below the bridge of the battleship, the four other heroes remained rather stoic and unresponsive. The room where they were waiting was rather large and lined with metallic paneling, giving the entire place a futuristic appearance. They were gathered around the small table in the center of the room, Kilowatt naturally silent as Hawkman sat across from him polishing his giant war axe with a rag. Red Tornado seemed uninterested in speaking, seeing how he was an android and had no reason to address the others. The other member of their group seemed to be enjoying the lack of noise, due to her solitary nature.

Raven was seated in the last chair, a madness dancing in her eyes as a certain sense of bloodlust returned to her. She struggled to resist its pull, but after a minute of waiting she found this to be increasingly difficult. A soft growl escaped her lips as she felt the evil half of her personality surfacing once more, her deep blue eyes turning blood red as a second pair sprouted on her forehead. Seeing that no one else had bothered to take notice, the young sorceress shook her head slightly, allowing he top of her black hood to conceal her eyes from view. After a few moments of contemplation she gave into the evil within, allowing the final step of her demonic transformation.

The second pair of eyes on her forehead seemed to retract back into her skin as her eyes returned to their normal coloration, but a deep-seated desire to kill all those around her spread throughout her very being like a malevolent poison. Although she looked relatively normal, the darkness had taken hold once more, and she smiled in anticipation for the coming battle. The red markings on her body began to glow, although they were hidden by the long-sleeved sorcerer's gown she had begun wearing over her black leotard for this reason. A shadow fell over her eyes, but a sense of vindictive happiness came over her at the thought of the kill, and she licked her lips in a sadistic manner. Although Trigon was dead, she still bore signs of his parentage that she once tried to ignore, but now the evil that she had worked so hard to vanquish had become one of her greatest weapons.

She continued to ponder the complexities of her personality, but a groaning noise caused her to look up. The doors leading into the room slid open to reveal the form of their superior, all suited up and ready to take on the enemy. The Tamaranean Princess followed after him with a blank expression, her ample cleavage grabbing the attention of the room's men for a moment. Nightwing headed towards them with a relaxed expression, but his eyes widened slightly as he noticed Raven's sudden change in demeanor. It wasn't anything physical, but after a moment he recognized that familiar aura of insanity that she had exuded after Beast Boy's death. He contemplated this for a moment before clearing his throat, instantly grabbing the attention of the room's occupants.

"In a matter of minutes the raid on the rebel sanctuary will begin." He declared with an anxious nod. "Is everyone prepared to face the resistance? It's time for us to show those bastards they won't be able to cast society into chaos! The Justice Lords will not allow this fragile peace to disappear as long as we draw breath!"

Hawkman placed his weapon in its holder and stood up. "So how do we know when to begin the assault?"

"Be patient… The battle will begin soon enough…" Raven spoke in an even tone, but a sense of malice could be heard behind her words.

"Do not forget that our success in this upcoming struggle is not guaranteed." The winged hero replied sternly. She turned her head away from him, but he seemed not to care and instead faced their leader. "By the way, have our sources gathered any more intelligence concerning this matter or are we going down there blind?"

Red Tornado nodded in agreement. "It is imperative that we have information if it is available to us beforehand." The robot added in his synthesized tones. "If we are prepared for the enemy, we will be able to drastically increase our success rate."

The young vigilante nodded in agreement and decided they were correct. "From what we have gathered through our information network, the enemy's ranks include several heroes who refused to see the truth about our cause. Among them are some heavy hitters such as Green Arrow and Captain Marvel, both of whom where well-respected heroes among the Justice Lords before deserting us and siding with Batman's resistance."

"Are you certain that he isn't with them?" Hawkman questioned him.

"Our sources indicate that this may not be the main headquarters for the rebel forces, so the chances are that he is not present." Nightwing explained carefully. "I believe it would be to our benefit to capture hostages during this attack, this way we will have some leverage over the other members of the rebellion. The more valuable the hostage, the more useful they may be to us in the future."

Hawkman fingered the handle of his axe with a slightly conflicted look. "So you're saying that we have to take them in alive, then? This could be a bigger challenge than just taking care of them without restraint."

"Certainly Superman did not authorize this plan of yours…" the red-colored android responded.

The dark-clad sorceress sitting across the table shifted a little bit, her heavy robes swaying with her movement. "It was our orders to deal with this by any means necessary… We should take care of this without showing mercy. After all, anything else would make us look like weaklings to the rest of the world." Her hood slid back a little, revealing a sense of lunacy in her eyes. "You wouldn't want the Kryptonian to blame us on any loose ends, would you?"

Nightwing looked as though he had just been slapped, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stepped towards her. "He's not here right now, so what I say goes…" he responded in a level tone. "Kill if you have no other option, but if the enemy is weak enough for capture than I want you to handle the situation according to my commands."

Starfire moved forward as if to challenge the other heroes. "Follow his orders, or I will be forced to teach you your place."

The young vigilante held out a hand to halt her procession, but the demoness sitting across the room seemed to find them almost comical. Raven let out a dry cough to catch her attention as she pulled her hood back into place, once again hiding her facial expressions. "I'll do my best… my lord." Her tone was its normal monotone even though a sense of sarcasm lingered in the air.

Her superior cast aside this comment and decided to drop the conversation, considering how awkward it had become. Dealing with her constantly fluctuating personalities had grown increasingly difficult over the years, and over the last few hours he had seen her behavior switch between both her human and demon sides more than once. Sometimes talking to her felt like dealing with two entirely separate beings, even though he still continued to wonder if she still considered him a friend as they used to be before the incident. Before he could contemplate further, a loud siren went off above their heads, followed by a voice from the intercom.

"Sir, we've successfully hit the target! Are you ready for the drop off!" the pilot asked them.

The group shared a collective nod as they prepared for the next phase of the plan. Hawkman withdrew his axe and moved his wings into position as Nightwing reached for the mechanism on his back. Starfire seized hold of Kilowatt and Raven braced herself as the large hatch on the other side of the room finally opened. Wind gushed through the opening, but in a mater of seconds they were ready to begin. Starfire jetted through the exit along with her cargo, closely followed by Red Tornado and Raven, both of which seemed unfazed by the wind as they propelled themselves into the open sky. Hawkman opened wings wider and floated into the air, closely followed by their leader. Nightwing opened the winds of his glider and caught a gust, allowing him to delay the fall while granting him considerable mobility due to the use of this trademark technique.

Looking down below, the young Justice Lord could see several people running away from the burning ruins of the rebel base. Kilowatt landed seconds later as his ride dropped him onto the ground, and quickly began immobilizing enemy fighters with blasts of electricity, his shots easily overpowering the ordinary soldiers as they we stunned, their weapons falling harmless to the ground. Hawkman swooped down upon one of the guard towers, dodging the flying bullets as he pounded and pounded the structure with the broad side of his axe, causing the structure to collapse along with the gunmen inside. Several of them leapt from the tower to escape getting crushed, but a wall of dark energy wrapped around their bodies as if to protect them from the fall. The enemy soldiers looked relieved for a moment, but seconds later the dark barrier compressed the men trapped inside as terrible screams emanated from within.

Nightwing joined his men on the ground as the sheer magnitude of Raven's powers slaughtered all of the minor soldiers, but before he could criticize or admire her work, he was forced to dodge an incoming arrow. He looked up just in time to see a team of enemy heroes emerging from the base, having guessed that they had attempted to help the survivors of the bomb attack escape before vacating the premises. Green Arrow stood in the front of the group, his bow aimed directly at the young vigilante. Behind him were Stargirl, Vigilante, Bumblebee, and a small child that he didn't recognize.

Oliver Queen was a tall man of comparable height to Batman, with a neatly trimmed blonde beard and a green outfit. Without a second to waste, he reached into his quiver and moved another arrow into position with machine-like agility. "Can we help you?" he questioned with a tense expression.

The other heroes moved into position around their leader, the two girls floating overhead with Hawkman as the remaining three faced their opponents on the ground. Their leader raised his hand to stop them from attacking and stared down his enemy. "You know why we came here, so don't waste my time with stupid questions."

"Then you know how this is gonna go down, so why waste the time? Why not just kill us all just like you did those peaceful protesters back in Jump City?" Green Arrow questioned the man standing across from him.

"Watch you tongue!" Starfire declared with a serious expression. "You stand before one of the Seven Justice Lords who protect the peace of this planet from evildoers. He wishes to speak to you, so do not interrupt."

Her former boyfriend ignored her and turned to face the enemy force. "If you surrender and agree to come quietly, I can ensure that you will not be killed for your actions." His expression became darker as he said this. "However, fight us and you may be brought in by force, or merely executed on the spot."

The green-clad hero ignored faced down his opponent. "Neither!" he screamed, firing an arrow at the young Justice Lord.

Starfire shot in front of him and caught the projectile with her bare hand, but was caught off guard as the energy arrow exploded in her face. Although she recovered quickly, the others immediately launched into action. Nightwing leapt over her still-smoking form with a fistful of birdarangs in his hand, tossing them at his opponent with a well-placed movement of his wrist.

Green Arrow dodged them with an impressive display of acrobatics, moving his large form into a more maneuverable position as he shot three arrows at once. This time it was Nightwing's turn to dodge, only he found it a bit easier due to the size of his opponent's chosen weapons. He recognized the technique from the time he fought Speedy and had already prepared a countermeasure against this type of opponent. After all, the sidekick he once was friends with had probably learned from the hero, meaning that this might not be so hard after all.

As he maneuvered around the flying arrows, Starfire moved in to attack but found herself face-to-face with a young boy wearing a red shirt and jeans. "You are not my enemy… Leave!" she replied in a robotic tone.

"Quite the contrary!" the brunette child answered with a small nod. He looked up at the sky and raised his arms. "Shazam!" he screamed, causing a lightning bolt to rain down from above.

The electricity struck him dead-on, but seconds later he emerged as a full-grown man of considerable height and build. He wore a bright red costume with a golden sash and boots, a short white cape hanging loosely from his shoulders and a lightning bolt symbol emblazoned on the front of his costume. Captain Marvel wore a proud smile as he bore down on his now smaller opponent, his eyes bright with confidence. As if recognizing the threat he posed, Starfire sprung to life and flew backwards away from him, her eyes firing beam of green energy in his direction in an attempt to take him out.

Captain Marvel dodged sideways with his enhanced speed and shot into her with incredible force, sending his opponent sprawling through the air. She flipped around and attempted to return his attack with one of her own, but the captain seized her by the waist and floated into the air, positioning her struggling form towards the sky above him. Taking a deep breath, he shouted "Shazam" multiple times, causing the bolts of electricity to strike his victim as she took the force of the magical lightning. She made no noise in response to the bursts of pain, and managed to wriggle free from his grip, kicking her adversary in the face and freeing herself with one powerful movement.

As she squared off against the captain, Red Tornado generated a twister with his powers, sending Bumblebee flying out of control. She screamed as the whirlwind caught her wings and spun her in circles, but the android attempted to use this chance to disable her. Flying towards her, he raised a fist to disable the insect-themed hero, but she used the spinning currents to her own advantage and responded by zapping him with a surge of electricity from her weapons. The attack seemed to catch the robot off guard allowing her to escape the fearsome winds and launch more attacks of her own.

Kilowatt appeared to be locked in a similar battle with the cowboy themed superhero Vigilante, whose shower of bullets were useless against such an opponent. Possessing the ability to control electricity, he easily disarmed the opposing hero of his dueling pistols, and moved at speeds too fast for the other man to follow. Although the cowboy ready his movements, his body was too slow to react and was easily taken down from behind by a powerful surge of electricity. Seeing how their leader ordered him not to finish off the enemy, Kilowatt decided to take him in, but was stopped by a blast of energy from above.

A young girl with blonde hair and stars on her hero costume narrowed her eyes at the enemy as she moved in to rescue her fallen comrade. "The next one won't miss!" she warned with a deadly serious expression.

Stargirl raised her golden staff again as she prepared to send another blast at the electrifying enemy, but was forced to divert her attention as waves of darkness began to swallow her up from behind. Spinning around in mid-air, the patriotic hero fired her staff into the opposing mass of energy, disturbing it's progression just enough for her to escape it's grasp. She had seen what this attack could do when the demoness used it on their soldiers, and shuddered to imagine herself getting crushed into a bloody pulp within the darkness. As she fled to distance herself from the unseen enemy, the young hero turned to find a swirling vortex composed entire of shadow waiting behind her.

Raven slid through the vortex, her eyes blazing with a vindictive madness. "Going somewhere!" she bared her teeth in a demonic manner, her eyes turning red.

Her opponent seemed to back down slightly and raised her weapon to defend herself, but the staff in her hands gave off a dark glow, diverting her attention as the weapon sprung to life and wrapped itself around her body like a snake. She began to sink like a rock, but the demonic sorceress caught her with a wall of magical energy, which covered her limp form like a dark bed sheet. She opened her mouth to scream, but Raven waved her hand, causing a gag made from her magic to appear on the other girl's mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I prefer my victims to be silent." The black-robed demoness commented as a second pair of glowing red eyes erupted from her forehead again.

She watched in anticipation of the death of her victim, but a shape shot through the darkness from the other side, shattering the barrier surrounding Stargirl and freeing her in one powerful movement. Raven fumed angrily as her face returned to its more normal appearance, but despite this her anger seemed to increase as she sited the Tamaranean's body lying on the ground several meters away. Captain Marvel returned to the ground once he had finished rescuing the half-demon's victim, cradling Stargirl's traumatized form in his arms. He used his enhanced strength to remove the staff from her body, bending it back into it's original shape as best he could and laying the weapon by her side.

"Thanks for saving my butt…" Stargirl replied with a serious look of gratitude.

"Just stay safe…" Her savior gave her a small salute and a wink before flying back into the sky, this time hovering at a similar level to the demonic sorceress.

Raven raised her hands angrily, her powerful rage causing her to seemingly grow in size as the shadows surround her body. "How dare you interfere with my work!" she screamed with a look of utter revulsion. "My rage shall consume you… The dark magic I wield is far stronger than whatever power you possess!"

"Magic, you say?" Captain Marvel raised an eyebrow with a cheerful expression, pounding his right fist into his left palm to emphasize his words. "How do you think I got my powers? Magic is what I'm I'll about! Why don't you take me on, and then we'll see how your magic matches up to mine?"

"Yes, let's find out!" Raven replied with an amused expression, her voice echoing sinisterly as she spoke.

The young sorceress clapped her hands together with a single motion, drawing up a barrier of dark energy around her adversary. She attempted to crush him, but the powerful hero smashed the magical confines with his bare hands and flew around back in an attempt to snare her from behind. Without even turning around, the demoness materialized a wall of darkness to her back, but this time she poured a much larger amount of her spirit into her creation to increase the protection it provided. Captain Marvel lashed out with his fist in an attempt to shatter the barrier, but was instantly repelled by an unseen force.

As the two magic-oriented heroes battled in the skies, Green Arrow fired an arrow at one of his attackers, the projectile releasing a series of cables that bound Hawkman's wings and instantly grounded him. His weapon lay abandoned several feet away as the winged hero struggled against his binds, crawling on his hands across the grounds in order to reach it, but before he could grab a hold of the axe, a stream of energy bound his arms and tossed him into the air like a whip. Stargirl, who had recovered from Raven's attack, quickly immobilized his limbs using the power of her staff. Despite the damages that the weapon had taken during her earlier bout, it was still perfectly usable.

Nightwing was unable to do much to help as his path was blocked by a certain archer who seemed intent on preventing him from helping his defeated teammates. He tossed a smoke bomb into the air in an attempt to obtain some leverage over the agile marksman, but Green Arrow imitated this move by firing a series of smog-inducing arrows at the other hero in an attempt to even the playing field. With vision impaired for both fighters, Nightwing relied on his ears to fight, throwing birdarangs in the direction from which he head the familiar footsteps of his adversary, but was made aware of his opponent's similar strategy as an arrow soared past his face.

Meanwhile Raven followed up her original strategy by forming another barrier around Captain Marvel, only this time she learned from the previous experience and made sure to strengthen it so that he could not escape. The man inside seemed to struggled as the dark walls began to crush his body, his struggling making it much more difficult for his attacker to deliver the finishing blow. The young sorceress grew angry with his resistance, drops of sweat running down her face as she exerted more power into her spell, but even from several yards away she could see small cracks forming in the magical walls.

At the same time, Captain Marvel could feel his strength waning, but after mulling over the situation he quickly came up with a solution. "Shazam!" he bellowed, the resulting bolt of lightning instantly shattering the prison that held him. The newly freed hero soared overhead with a confident expression. "You see now that my magic is stronger!" he declared.

The demonic witch scowled in response to his comment, realizing that to win she would have to take this seriously. Her mind began searching for a spell powerful enough to end this fight, but as her mind replayed the last action she decided that there was a better solution that didn't involve exerting herself again. It was clear that her adversary could use that lightning bolt as a weapon in addition to inducing his transformation into a superhero, but thinking back to what she knew about him made her realize that this ability was a double bladed sword in itself. No matter how he looked, she knew that he was still a naïve little kid. With a wicked smile, Raven repeated her previous action, creating yet another wall of energy around his body.

Her opponent let out a hearty laugh as he judged the strength of the barrier. "Haven't you learned yet!" he called mockingly. "Shazam!" he roared for the lightning.

She raised her hand with a smile, altering the barrier's shape and consistency so that a small hole was present at the top. By the time her victim realized what was going on, it was too late to stop the consequences of her trick. Captain Marvel shouted out as the lightning struck his body, and seconds later a young child stood where the great hero was moments before. Stunned that he had been turned back into little Billy Batson. He opened his mouth to repeat the magic words, but before he could speak, a stream of dark energy twisted itself around his head like a tight scarf, instantly preventing him from saving himself.

"Nice magic words, but I've got some of my own…" Raven said with an cruel grimace. She closed her eyes for a second while chanting. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Her eyes shot open as the barrier surrounding her prey reshaped itself into a man-sized board, which floated horizontally in the air. She snapped her fingers, causing dark chains to shoot out of the object, forcibly binding her target to the torture device she had created. Billy's eyes widened in agony as series of shackles bound his arms and legs. Raven's eyes turned red again as she opened her mouth, a pair of fangs protruding from the upper half of her jaw. For a moment the marking on her skin expanded to cover her entire body, giving her flesh a deep red color very similar to her father's skin, and in that moment her braid fell apart to reveal a mane of long gray hair.

"I wouldn't given you a quick, painless death if you hadn't been so much trouble." Her voice sounded more sinister than ever as she bore down on the child. She raised her hand again, creating another board of equal size using her dark energy, this one with several large spikes sticking out from the flat surface.

She prepared to finish the frightened child when a voice called out to her. "Stop!"

Nightwing came walking through the night, having defeated his opponent less than a minute ago. Starfire came forward closely followed by a recent freed Hawkman, the former carrying an unconscious Stargirl on her back. Red Tornado glided down from the sky with an equally unresponsive Bumble Bee in tow, her wings bound and her hands and legs cuffed with titanium shackles. Killowatt had left Vigilante's unconscious form on the ground after taking him down, along with several other gunmen that were aligned with the rebellion's forces.

"The battle is over, but these rebels are no good to us dead. We can use them to find out where the others are hiding, and perhaps even ransom." The silver-clad vigilante explained with a patient expression. His facial features hardened as she looked away from him. "Stand down and prepare the prisoner."

"Make me…" the demonic entity replied angrily, her voice bearing very little semblance of the friend he once knew.

Her superior shook his head with a saddened expression before exchanging a nod with the winged hero standing behind him. Hawkman raised his axe and struck out at her, the Thanagarian metal instantly canceling out her magical abilities. She drew up a barrier, but the amp metal axe sliced through it like butter, the feedback from the weapon jamming her powers as soon as it came close to her. He turned it so that the broad end was facing her before striking her flesh. The blow was non-fatal, but extremely painful at the time as the sheer force of his strike sent her flying, completely rendering her powers useless for the moment.

She let out an agonizing groan as her skin and hair changed back to normal. Raven looked up at her attacker with a hateful expression, but the red glow in her eyes subsided, and she grabbed her head between her hands, as pulses of dark energy spewed from her open mouth and eyes. After a moment of painful transformation, she returned to her senses, the human half of her personality becoming dominant once more. At this time a feeling of regret filled her stomach at the lives she had taken tonight, but this only brought her a sense of confusion. The young sorceress let out a blood-curdling scream as she cursed herself for feeling this weakness… She hated the fact that she felt regret for taking the lives of a few meaningless people. Her human half had so many emotions… Things that were useless to someone like her.

"There was a reason why I asked Hawkman to come… Whenever you begin to kill, you lose sight of the goal and defy orders, and that is not acceptable." Nightwing stepped towards her and held out his hand. "Raven…" he began with a concerned expression.

"You okay?" Hawkman added with a much less sympathetic expression.

"Leave me alone!" she hissed, silently using her other hand to conjure a portal. The demoness glared at him as she choked back tears of frustration, forcing him to dodge as several nearby rocks sprung to life her dark magic and flew at him. She sunk through the dark portal, her features becoming swallowed up by the swirling torrent of shadows as she left the other members of her team standing among their defeated foes.

Note to Readers: Phew, long chapter… I have a feeling this one has more errors in spelling and grammar than usual, but I usually write late at night. No to mention that I like writing action scenes like the ones that were in this chapter. Raven's dual personality seems to be becoming more of a problem, but I hope now that it's clearer why? It's because the emotions and guilt created by her inherently good human half make it hard to do the things she wants to do without feeling guilty. She gave into the darkness so that she could perform evil acts to fill the void without feeling bad about it.

I hope the go back to Earth 1 next chapter, although you have to admit that a lot of stuff if going on in Earth 2 right now. Anyway I really need some **REVIEWS** and support. Give me some good critiques or ideas to work with, I appreciate and have even used or adapted ideas submitted by reviewers before if I liked them. Either way, it keep me motivated to continue this story, seeing how it always helps to know what parts people like and what they want to see while writing. It's partially what keeps me writing Fanfiction.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Running from Justice**

Earth 2- Nightwing's Ship

Dick Grayson sighed in relief as he sat in the commander's seat of the ship's bridge, musing over their recent victories as the pilots headed back towards his base of operations. Despite that terrifying moment where Raven's demonic persona had emerged, the mission had been a complete success for them. The treasonous heroes at the military base had been captured at long last, and even though Batman wasn't among them, they had at least managed to secure some of his most valuable collaborators.

It was true that the Kryptonian had ordered that they be dealt with by any means necessary, but Nightwing has seen very little reason to end their lives. He thought about it and guessed that the rebellious heroes might have information about their leader, and thus they were much more valuable alive than dead. With any luck the Martian would be able to find something out by delving into their minds, and even if they were not, it was possible that the live capture of these valuable hostages would lure Bruce Wayne out of hiding too.

"Sir, we have an incoming message from the Watchtower." One of the workers standing below him replied. "Shall I place the call onscreen?"

Shifting his previous thoughts aside, the young vigilante was forced to address the situation at hand. He let out a small sigh in response to his subordinate's words, as if he was not in the mood to deal with this right now. "Go ahead…" he answered half-heartedly.

"One moment." His subordinate replied as he punched the proper system commands into his keyboard. After several moments of silence, the screen flickered to reveal the distinctive green face of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.

"I recently relayed the information concerning this mission to the dispatcher at the Watch Tower and am currently heading back to headquarters." Nightwing replied with a thorny expression. "I trust you have a good reason for contacting me before my arrival."

The alien hero wore a look of indifference, but those who knew him best were aware that this aspect of his appearance was not meant to be taken personally. "You have my apologies, but the air traffic monitor has already indicated that you were heading back to your own base, contrary to Superman's direct orders that the prisoners be brought to the Watchtower for incarceration instead."

Nightwing leaned forward slightly, planting an elbow in his lap as he rested his head on the corresponding hand. "If that's the case, I was hoping you could take a look into their minds and see what you can find out about the other rebels."

"I believe that was Superman's intention…" The Martian replied with a solemn, yet slightly apologetic expression. "Seeing how you had the foresight to bring them in alive, I must also commend you on making this solid judgment. In my opinion these hostages are far more valuable alive to us than otherwise, although there are some among our ranks who might care to disagree."

The former boy wonder relaxed his shoulders as he heard these last words, a sense of tension slipping away. He had been hoping that the higher-up would not be too upset that they hadn't just eliminated the threat, but this time it seemed as though some of the others seemed pleased with the results of his approach for a change. After pondering this for a few seconds, the young vigilante sat back again and folded his arms in a more serious manner. He already guessed that some of his fellow heroes would have preferred that he had wiped out the enemy to avoid future complications, but he had foreseen the value of keeping his prisoners alive.

"The main purpose of this conversation was to tell relay these orders from the top, but there is something else I believe you should know before returning to the Watchtower. What I am about to say may surprise you, but seeing how this new situation involved a hero under your jurisdiction, I feel it is only right to inform you of these events." The alien hero began with a note of worry.

"Well, I figured that you might have had something else to say. Go ahead…" Dick Grayson replied with an inquisitive expression.

J'onn seemed to hesitate before resuming his message. "I regret to inform you that Cyborg, the warden of Titans Prison, was recently arrested for his crimes against the state."

"What!" Nightwing began in a hushed whisper, his expression a mix of shock and pain. He tensed up as the other hero's words sunk into his mind, his fingers subconsciously tightening around the arms of his chair. "What happened? What did he do?"

The Martian nodded calmly. "I am sorry to have been the one to tell you this, but your friend recent helped an inmate escape from the prison. Superman reviewed the prisoner's profile and dispatched Kara to carry out the sentence, but Cyborg not only spoke out against the execution, but ultimately chose to betray us when he raised a hand against Supergirl to protect the enemy."

"Cyborg would never have done something like that!" Nightwing shot back fiercely.

"This situation is more complicated than you know, although it hardly makes a difference concerning what your friend did, and the punishment he will receive for such treasonous actions." The alien added quickly.

Dick Grayson looked as though he had just been slapped in the face, his teeth gritting slightly in anticipation as he considered the circumstances. With considerable effort, he reeled in his temper in an attempt to appear more accepting of the situation. "I would appreciate it if you explain these so-called complications before passing judgment on a member of my unit."

Martian Manhunter's expression became unusually grave, even when compared to his usual gaunt demeanor, his eyes moving towards the ground for a moment as he mulled over how he was going to explain the situation properly. "I am certain you remember that incident a few years ago involving that alternative dimension, during which we encountered a group of heroes parallel to our own known as the Justice League."

"Of course… When Superman tried to help our alternate selves by They attempted to ruin our dimension and poisoned our Batman's views. It's their fault that you and the others were imprisoned for years on the Earth within that alternate reality." Nightwing recalled bitterly, although he seemed not to understand why this subject was being brought up at a time like this.

J'onn J'onzz sensed this and decided that now was the best time to explain. "This may seem irrelevant right now, but recently a hero from that reality appeared in our own world and was incarcerated by the police."

The young vigilante leaned forward slightly with an anxious expression. "How exactly does all of this relate to our discussion? Even if the prisoner in question was a hero, I'm sure that Cyborg wouldn't have done anything like what you described earlier."

"Unfortunately it is much more complicated than that…" the Martian rationalized. "In the Justice League's dimension there are several people alive that perished in our own world, including a certain friend or yours who died during the reign of President Luthor."

"You're not serious… It can't be!" the masked hero's fingers began digging into the arms of his chair.

"That is correct." J'onn answered with a solemn nod. "The prison staff compared DNA samples and fingerprints to confirm this, and to be certain Cyborg personally spoke with the prisoner and found put the truth… The man we captured appeared in our world after being involved in some kind of accident, and is indeed the Beast Boy from the Justice League's dimension."

Nightwing wore a slightly conflicted expression, although he quickly hid it. "So, I assume that you were going to eliminate this alternate Beast Boy?"

The Martian nodded in agreement. "That was our original arrangement, although Cyborg's less than admirable actions prevented Supergirl from finishing the job."

"I believe that the warden thought of the prisoner as the friend we lost and acted instinctively in defense." The vigilante seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment as he considered the situation, although hearing all of this at once was making it difficult for him to react accordingly.

"That reminds me…" the alien began with a slightly apologetic expression. "The fact that the warden was your subordinate may damage your standing among the Justice Lords."

The former boy wonder folded his hands, in front of his face as he rested his elbows on his lap, a small groan escaping his lips as he considered the other hero silently. "Before you do anything I would prefer to speak to him personally, seeing how he falls under my jurisdiction."

J'onn J'onzz inclined his head slightly as if agreeing with the younger hero. "Very well then, I shall do my best to honor your wishes. So long as you return soon, I believe there will be very few complications in this regard."

"That's good to hear." The bird-themed hero replied with a small sigh.

Unfortunately the Martian reaction was less than comforting. His red eyes seemed to wander off for a moment as if he was withholding information, but after mulling it over in his mind he decided that now was probably the best time to say it. "Your friend Cyborg was beaten within inches of his life during the struggle at Titans Prison and is currently receiving intensive care. When he is conscious, I shall allow you to be the first to see him."

Upon hearing the first part of his message, the young vigilante's thoughts returned to Superman's unruly cousin, causing his blood to boil in that instant. The alien hero seemed to take note of his wrathful expression, but in an instant his expression was inscrutable again. Although he was one of the Justice Lords, Nightwing understood his position was lower than the others. The information he had just received was horrifying to a certain extent, but he intended to get the answers when he arrived back at the Watchtower. After a minute or two of silence, the Martian realized that neither of them had anything to say and quickly signed out with a courteous salute, a gesture that the younger hero reciprocated if only formally.

Realizing that he had yet to give the order, Nightwing called out to the team of worker piloting his aircraft. "Change course for the Watchtower immediately!" he ordered in a level but resolute tone.

One of the men watching the navigation computer typed in the new command and quickly searched for the satellite's current location, seeing how the Justice Lord Watchtower was literally in orbit around the planet and thus constantly in motion. Once he found the proper coordinates, the workers reset the system and set off to find the right route so when they launched the craft into space, they could also reach the base with little difficulty. Such a practice required precision to avoid complications, which was partially the reason why the heroes usually traveled with personnel manning their airships.

The young vigilante was no stranger to piloting these crafts thanks to the training program that new members were forced to undergo, but it also helped having someone else around to take care of such trivial matters. After observing his employees to make sure that they were using the correct commands, Nightwing sat back down and tried to relax. He was shocked to find out that a hero from the Justice League's world had managed to appear in their dimension, but the fact that it was their deceased teammate made the concept seem all the more surreal. The Beast Boy he knew was gone, and yet the idea of seeing his old friend had really made him wonder if he would have done the same thing that Cyborg had.

Such a though disgusted him as he thought about what the Justice League had tried to do to their world. Those self-righteous heroes had dared to deem their world's peace as a false one, turned his former mentor against them, and arrested the five remaining members of the original Justice Lords, imprisoning them in the other world like common criminals. Nightwing silently wondered if the Beast Boy from the other world was anything like the friend they had lost, but at the same time he knew that if this changeling bore the same beliefs as his dimension's heroes, he would have to be killed for the continued safety and stability of the innocent.

There was a time when the young vigilante would have thought these methods cruel, but that time had long since passed. Every time he looked at Starfire's emotionless face, it was a reminder of what happened to those who were to blind to see the truth. As much as it killed him on the inside, this was the way of the world and if they did not follow it, all of society would descend into chaos. He often wished that so many people would not have to suffer for the greater good, but Superman had always assured them that a handful of people suffering for their crimes would prevent countless more from committing acts of unspeakable evil.

As if she couldn't have picked a worse time, Starfire entered the room through the doors in the back of the cockpit, her eyes glazed and empty as usual as she stepped over the threshold and into the control room. She walked up to him and positioned herself in front of his seat, but when he did not address her, the Tamaranean Princess bent the upper half of her body towards him in a stiff bow, her hands overlapping neatly over her lower section as if she were nothing more than a mere servant bowing before her master. Rather than looking past her as he had been trying to do, the former boy wonder made eye contact with his former girlfriend, although he found it difficult to maintain for very long.

The alien girl stood as if registering this gesture as a sign of greeting. "Do you require any companionship, my lord?" she asked robotically.

He glanced up at her face, her doll-like eyes causing him more pain than anything else. After a few seconds he sunk back with a look of exhaustion. "I'm not in the mood right now…" he answered.

"I did not mean to overhear you conversation, but I know that Cyborg has betrayed us, and that you are deeply concerned for his safety." She moved aside so that they were no longer facing one another, instead moving so that she was standing at attention like a soldier.

Nightwing looked up again as if expecting to see signs of caring in her expressions, but was disappointed to see that she still looked as emotionless as ever. Honestly speaking he knew that there was nothing he could do, seeing how the higher-ups had used her as an experimental subject to create the ultimate super soldiers. Superman had intended to surgically implant these devices into the heads of every superhero that refused to support their cause of absolute justice, but opposition from some of the others had delayed the project, and because of this most of the captured heroes had been freed by Batman.

The former boy wonder glanced to his right with a puzzled expression, having given in to her attempts at making conversation. The device in her head wasn't really geared towards mind-control, but merely limited her emotions to eliminate distractions while optimizing intelligence and fighting abilities. It also fostered a strong sense of loyalty to the Justice Lords and their beliefs, although he knew from speaking with her before that the victim's memories and general knowledge remained intact.

"Perhaps you have some idea of how we can help Cyborg now." He asked hopefully.

The stoic Tamaranean shook her head with a resolute expression. "Do as you wish, but if our former friend is punished for his actions, than it will be no more than he deserves. Justice will prevail so long as we can rely on the infinite wisdom of the senior council."

Nightwing was not surprised to see that she was so compliant, but a small scowl escaped his lips as he heard the last part. "If I remember, it was the Kryptonian's infinite wisdom that resulted in your loss of emotion and free will." He seethed in a surprisingly collected tone. "Is there ever a time when you want back what they took from you?"

"If I can better serve the Justice Lords in this condition, then so be it." She answered quickly. "Without the distractions provided by petty emotions, I require minimal rest and feel less pain in while engaging in strenuous battles. The device within me had greatly enhanced my capabilities and efficiency far beyond what it was… In these regards can better carry out the orders of my superiors."

The young vigilante's facial expression seemed like a mixture of frustration and disgust, but having gotten used to her mannerisms and behavior, he quickly shifted this aside. Dick Grayson gave her a more scrutinizing expression as she stepped forward. "I understand that you see the value in these particular areas, but is this really what you wanted for yourself?"

His words seemed to brush past her without any affect at first, but a second later the Tamaranean Princess shifted uneasily and blinked, a sense of alertness returning to her eyes as if for that brief moment she had awoken from a dream-like trance. This caught her boyfriend's attention rather quickly as a look of surprise flashed dawned on his face, but after several moments of watching her movements, the spark of life he saw seemed to slowly fade away. Her beautiful green eyes became doll-like again as she squared up to face him, and she shook her head in response to his earlier question.

"Such things are no longer relevant to me." Starfire answered in a cryptic tone, her head bowing in respect as she faced him. "My only concern is that this world remains safe under the guidance of our illustrious leaders. That is all the matters…"

In that moment, he felt a sudden sense of frustration and sadness, having seen the woman he loved emerge from her daze for even a moment. "Leave me…" he ordered, dismissing the brainwashed woman with a condescending tone.

"As you wish!" she complied with a second bow before exiting the way she came, the metallic doors slamming shut behind her as she passed into the hallway beyond.

At times like this, Nightwing wondered if he had done the right thing pleading for her life years ago. When the Justice Lords came to power she had joined their cause alongside the rest of the remaining Titans, but when they began creating the system that existed today, she had protested against the harsh treatments alongside several heroes and countless concerned citizens. Superman considered lobotomizing her, but the pleas of her friends saved her from the most terrible of punishments.

Nightwing remembered the day he approached the top Justice Lords and asked for a more lenient punishment, yet in the end he knew that it wasn't much better. The major difference was that Starfire could still fight alongside him and her condition could be reversed, whereas the original penalty she was to receive would have been irreversible. Although he spoke and acted rationally most of the time, the Man of Steel could be terrifying when the situation demanded it. The young vigilante sometimes wondered which part of him was the real person. Perhaps, that was question better left unanswered.

Earth 2- ?

It had been several hours since the escape from Titans Prison, and Beast Boy had been contemplating the situation ever since. Leaning back, he tried to relax on the large red sofa that had been set up in the emergency bunker that the escape pod had led him to. It was very much like the couch he remembered from the Titans Tower in his world, although the hideout had no windows for safety purposes. Upon arriving he had been too panicked to notice, but upon searching the premises to familiarize himself with the layout, he found that Cyborg's secret safe house was certainly an interesting place.

There were several rooms, including the small living space where he was currently sitting, complete with flat screen television and a communications system that he had been smart enough to de-activate in the case that anyone detected the signal. In the opposite corner of the room was a small kitchenette packed with survival rations and a fridge with a large supply of food and drinks. There was even a small bathroom, which he assumed was connected to a private water supply and septic system, seeing how it the place was built as a hideout rather than an ordinary house. Overall it seemed like a nice place albeit a litter small, seeing how the only other room was the small slot where the escape pod was being housed. Most importantly he had everything he needed for survival, but these luxuries did very little to calm his nerves as he thought about recent events.

He had initially viewed the people in this parallel universe as different from those he had come to know, but from the moment that Cyborg placed his own life on the line to save him, the green changeling's beliefs had changed. The people of this parallel world were very much like the people in his world, except the horrible events that transpired here had warped the views of the planet's heroes to varying extents, creating drastically different results. Beast Boy wondered why he felt so bad seeing how the person who saved him wasn't even the same friend he knew, but now he realized that this was not true. He was beginning to wonder if these dimensions were in fact created by the choices of humans…

Either way that was not important right now. Although he was safe for the time being, Beast Boy knew that he couldn't just sit around waiting for the enemy to find him, but the idea of charging into this world without a plan actually frightened him. Those who knew him best were aware that he was not the most intelligent of the former Titans, but his experiences fighting the Brotherhood of Evil growing up had taught him that it was wise to expect the worse from any opponent. The first thing he needed now was a plan, but sitting here the last few hours had given him nothing in return. Being trapped in a strange world where anyone could be an enemy, especially people he considered friends, was a scary though if nothing else.

Leaning back on the sofa, the green hero gazed up at the ceiling with a blank expression, silently wracking his brain for some idea of what he could do next. With no known way to return to his own dimension, he was going to have to get used to living in this world, at least for the time being. At times like this, having a frog-like complexion was really tough, seeing how he couldn't go anywhere without being noticed by bystanders. If that wasn't enough, all of his animal transformations retained his unnatural coloring, and transforming into something small would be risky seeing how bugs were so easily squashed and considered an annoyance by most people. It was obvious that his options were looking rather limited, and that was putting it lightly.

Moving his head into a more comfortable position, Beast Boy thought about what had become of his other friends in this world in the hopes that it would ease his worries, only to realize for a second time that things were far worse than he had originally imagined. Apparently Raven had given up her humanity, Starfire had been brainwashed, and Nightwing was currently one of the seven people whose job it was to ensure that this world remained the way it was. It pained him to imagine what became of his friends in this timeline, but if one thing was clear, it was that he wouldn't be able to turn to them for help without taking a major risk. Cyborg had sided with him, but from what he had heard, the others might not be so easy to convince even if he had the chance to talk to them.

Feeling stumped, the green hero returned to staring at the ceiling, silently considering any other options he had. Another thing he had considered earlier was finding Cyborg again, but the chances that he would be able to do that were slim even if he survived Supergirl's wrath. The though that his best friend might be dead sent shivers down his spine if even for a moment, but he knew that now was not the time to lose hope. If there was any chance whatsoever that he could do something to help, then there was really only one choice… His friends would have done the same thing for him…

With a powerful resolution, the green changeling stood up and crossed the bunker's main room, quickly reaching the small entryway. He crouched into the small passage and pushed open the minuscule door, silently listening for any sign that someone would was around. Beast Boy morphed into a dog for a minute to get a better idea of his surroundings before venturing further into the tunnel in canine form, his furry ears perking up instinctively as he sniffed the ground at his feet. Once he was certain that there was no one within several miles, the green hero nudged the grass covered panel out of his way, revealing a serene forest in the space beyond.

He decided that a green dog would attract too much attention and changed into a small bird, making travel much easier as he took to the air. After flying for a few minutes, he had reached the limits of the forest, his eyes gravitating towards a town directly ahead. Although it would have looked like any ordinary city at first glance, the road leading toward it was blocked by some kind of terminal, and a gate was positioned nearby to stop people from entering of leaving without stopping at the designated checkpoint.

Upon closer inspection he was disappointed to realize that the town as not Jump City, but decided to take advantage of the situation by looking for some clues around here. Using his small but versatile form, Beast Boy flew towards the city in hopes of finding out some answers…

Earth 1- Gotham City

Dick Grayson stood with his back to a brick, wall as he slunk through one of the city's most infamous alleys, closely followed by Barbara Gordon. Having studied the martial arts for years, both of them had long since mastered the art of stealth, and were now putting their skills to use wit good reason. As the leader of the Titans he had often relied on confronting the enemy with the help of his friends, but now the former boy wonder found himself resorting to the same types of tactics as Batman. At the moment they were currently wandering around the back of Gotham City's most famous nightclub, a place known for it's shady activities after the front doors had closed for the night.

Being the smaller of the two heroes, Batgirl slid past her teammate and behind a garbage can closer to the point of entry, where she waited and listened for several minutes before giving her approval to her partner to emerge. It seemed as though no one was here tonight, something that was rare considering all of the shifty deals that went on here, but at the same time it also meant that they were in luck. She attempted to step into the glow of the floodlight, but Nightwing held up his hand to stop her, his opposite hand pointing towards the security camera suspended a foot or so above the doorway.

The male vigilante reached into his utility belt and withdrew a tiny device, which he tossed with impeccable skill, causing it to land on the camera. A stream of electricity shot out of the object and disabled the electronic eye, causing it to short circuit as the internal wiring was fried. After giving the signal to his partner to follow, Dick Grayson walked into the light and removed his tool from the inactive camera, a satisfied smirk flashing across his mouth as he took pride in his own handiwork. A lot of the weapons that he used were copies of Batman's, but having left over four years ago, he had created tools he believed were far superior to those used by his mentor, including the glider that had partially inspired the name for his new alias.

Barbara noticed his expression and smiled. "Nice work." She commented in a hushed whisper.

He nodded in response as she picked the lock on the door, allowing both heroes to slip inside without being seen. Beyond the door was a large room reminiscent of a small auditorium, almost like the kind of place that one would hold an auction. At the end of the room was a slightly raised section of floor and a simple table. Luckily for them, no one was present, meaning that they would probably have no trouble finding their target.

"Do you think he's even here tonight, or did we come downtown and break into this sneak into this dump for nothing?" Batgirl questioned.

Nightwing listened carefully for signs of company, but it only took him a moment to find his answer. Whipping around, the two vigilantes were forced to dodge as a pair of curvaceous woman dropped from the ceiling above their heads. He dove across the floor to avoid being hit as Barbara somersaulted in the opposite direction, both heroes barely avoided their attackers. Both withdrew projectiles from their belts as they faced off against their opponents, the teams striking fighting stances as they prepared for the fight.

The two women were clad in white outfits lined with fuzzy collars and humorous black bowties, their style of dress revealing ample cleavage. The first woman had short blonde hair while the second had brown hair worn in a slightly longer style. Both of them were noticeably attractive, and wore matching black bowler hats, the canes in their hands held like swords as the rounded on the two heroes. Nevertheless they both appeared to be amused by the sudden entrance of the two Bat Family members, while most villains in this city would have been more concerned.

"I see two flying rats snuck in through the back entrance." The blonde mused with a mocking expression. "We can't just let you walk out of here after watching you break into this building after closing hours."

Her partner shrugged with an identical expression. "The big man won't like this." She added with a cocky expression.

"We only came here to speak with your boss." Nightwing replied with a rational expression. "Unlike most of the creeps that show up here at night, neither of us came here looking for trouble, so don't force us to hurt you."

The dark-clad vigilantes moved closer together as they stood their ground against the two women, but without warning, the brunette flipped forward with the grace of an acrobat and smashed him in the ribcage with her walking stick, causing him to stumble backwards in pain. Barbara turned to help him, but was forced to somersault backwards as their second attacker intercepted her midway and aimed a sweeping kick in her direction. As she brawled with the blonde woman, Dick Grayson recovered from his enemy's initial strike, and drew out his own fighting stick, frustrated at having been caught off guard by the enemy's initial attack.

She sneered in response to his anger, bringing her weapon down on him with even greater force than before. "Looks like you're the one who's gonna get hurt!"

"Not likely!" he countered her strike by raising his fighting staff to catch her attack, shoving her backwards with a push.

Nightwing used this brief moment to recover, this time going on the offensive as he charged toward his opponent, aiming a constant series of strikes and thrusts at the killer vixen as they exchanged attacks with their weapons. After another exchange, he managed to catch her off balance with a swift shot to the knees, causing her to recoil in pain long enough to land a blow to the head. His feisty woman toppled backwards as he smashed her over the skull with the end of his own weapon, a small groan escaping her lips as she hit the floor with a loud thud. He turned to help Batgirl, but the latter had already disabled her adversary with a series of steel cables, which were now tied tight around the woman as she squirmed around on the tile floor.

"Nice one…" the male vigilante mused with a note of playfulness.

"Glad you approve…" Barbara Gordon reciprocated his expression as she kicked the squirming captive to disable her before she was able to recover, but before either of them were able to react, the sound of footsteps interrupted them.

The two heroes turned around as the room's lights switched on, a shadow emerging from around the corner. Taking out his grappling hook, Nightwing seized a high window and retracted the cord so that he was out of sight. Batgirl glanced around and quickly followed her partner's example, as she prepared to hide. Breaking into a silent trot, the female bat broke into a run and slid underneath the nearby table, using the cloth to conceal her presence as she cocked her head sideways to see what was going on for herself. After a tense moment, she watched as a pair of expensive-looking dress shoes tiptoed into the room, although from her position it wasn't safe to see more.

As she remained hidden, Nightwing watched the new arrival from his position, having moved into a more subtle position on the ceiling through the use of suction cups. The new arrival was a middle-aged portly man wearing a formal black suit and matching top hat. He had monocle positioned over one of his eyes, the classy black umbrella in his right hand completing the ensemble. His beaklike nose and gentlemanly appearance was one that the members of the Bat Family knew all too well. To the public he was a local businessman and nightclub owner, but in the criminal underworld he was known as the Penguin.

"What the devil happened here?" he screamed with a shocked expression. The bird-like man lost his composure as he saw the inside of the next room, his monocle almost popping off of his face as he saw the unconscious forms of his two best bodyguards lying in a heap in the floor.

The stout crime lord raised his umbrella with an angry expression, having loaded the disguised machine gun with several round a few hours ago. It was always in these late hours that he dealt with criminals, and it never hurt to have some insurance in case his dealings didn't go so well. Stepping back cautiously, he scanned the room in search of anything unusual, his eyes slowly gravitating towards the ceiling. He blinked twice as his brain registered the dark-clothed man hanging from the ceiling, and he open-fired on the new target without restraint.

Nightwing had reacted with incredible speed as he released the ceiling, causing the bullets from the villain's weapons to pepper holes into the place where he had been standing. The young vigilante tossed a birdarangs from his belt as he fell from above, the projectile slicing through the end of the enemy's umbrella before he could fire off another round. Nightwing approached him, but the suited man scrambled away in an attempt to escape, only to be tripped by as he a foot slid out from underneath the auction table where he usually did business at this hour. He crawled towards the door, but was quickly halted as Batgirl emerged from her hiding spot and jumped between him and the exit.

Stuck between Batman's two protégés, the villain looked more frustrated than anything else. "Leave now or I'll call the police!" he threatened them.

Without warning, the male vigilante seized him by the collar of his shirt and forced him into a standing position. "Care to try that again… If the police show up here, just remember that the only person they'll be arresting is you!" he warned with a scowl very similar to that of his mentor.

"You were the ones who broke into my club and attacked my employees. I don't see how the law can touch me in any regards." The stout man replied with a satisfied smirk.

Barbara Gordon folded her arms in an impatient manner. "Batman's got a load of dirt on you, and the only reason he hasn't ruined your operations is because you've proven yourself to be a valuable source of information in the past."

Penguin glared at them, but his captor looked less than amused. The two heroes seemed to exchange glances as if communicating without words before the former boy wonder placed the crime lord back onto the ground. Oswald Cobblepot seemed to find a certain sense of truth in the hero's words and decided not to struggle anymore, although he gave them a look of utter loathing, never once taking his eyes off of them as he bent over and picked up his top hat. Dusting off his suit with his gloved hand, he twirled the hat between his fingers and scowled in response to the scuffmarks, having paid a fair sum for the imported headwear. With a small groan, the man placed it back onto his head to cover his rather obvious bald spot.

"If it's information you want, then I suggest you take your business somewhere else." The former villain replied in a businesslike tone.

"Save your lies for the cops!" Nightwing warned with a powerful glare. "I heard that you've been dealing in stolen technology since your associates in the drug trading business got themselves arrested."

The affect was no lost on the portly nightclub owner, who seemed noticeably unnerved by the sense of danger that the other man seemed to be radiating. He knew that Batman and his affiliates were not killers, but something about the way they carried themselves gave him a sense of forbidding that was too difficult to ignore. Panicking slightly, a drop of sweat ran down his forehead, and he took a step backwards to create some distance between himself and the brooding vigilante. His action only caused him to bump into the hero's female partner, who immediately pushed him in the opposite direction with a look of disgust.

"The guy we're looking for recently used some kind of unfinished inter-dimensional technology to tear open the fabric of space and time. What do you know about a super villain named Control Freak?" the dark-clad hero interrogated.

Penguin bit his lower lip with an irritated expression. "See here, young man! I'm a legitimate businessman now, so it would hardly do me any good to get involved in such affairs. It's not that I won't tell you, but rather that I don't know anything about any stolen technology."

"Save us the time and just tell us what you know?" Barbara added with a much less hostile expression than her partner.

"I assure that I have no idea what you're talking about…" the formally dressed villain replied with a casual shrug.

Although his lack of cooperation was beginning to strike his last nerve, rather than strike him directly, Nightwing shattered the nearby table with a well-placed heel drop, his irritation deepening. This sudden display of violence received the desired result as he earned a nervous expression from the cornered villain. The bird-themed bad guy looked as though he were considered his option when his eyes settled on the remains of his umbrella. Batgirl noticed this and placed her foot on top of the disguised machine gun before shoving it across the floor. Finally running out of options, the bird-like man let out a defeated sigh and slunk backwards with a defiant expression.

"I'm in a bad mood!" Nightwing hissed with grit teeth and a brooding expression.

"All right then…" he barked angrily, taking a moment to twiddle his thumbs as he cursed silently. "Not that I know anything personally mind you, but there are some disturbing rumors about the man you mentioned circulating in the underground."

Batgirl folded her arms with an aura of impatience. "We're listening…" she replied grumpily.

Oswald Cobblepot used a small, white pocket-handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow before speaking again. "He supposedly purchased some stolen technology from LexCorp… Of course it was never finished before Luthor's disappearance during that alien invasion last year, but this Control Freak supposedly bought it from a black market dealer somewhere in Central City."

"Was it one of yours?" Barbara Gordon added hopefully.

"Of course not!" Penguin looked insulted by the sudden accusation, despite the fact that he himself had been involved in that type of business as of late. "Once again, I won't say I know this for sure… However there were rumors that the Central City Rogues have begun some kind of secret trade of stolen technology from around the world."

Nightwing seemed to watch the quivering crime boss for a minute before pressing on. "Do you have any idea who's behind it?"

"Obviously not… Per our agreement I told you everything I could concerning this subject." The man shook his head in emphasis, only this time his lack of pompousness told his two interrogators that he was being honest for a change.

The male vigilante looked slightly disappointed, but decided that what they had gotten out of him was better than nothing. Without so much as another word, he released his grappling hook and swung through the nearest window, Batgirl followed his example seconds later, leaving behind a rather flabbergasted crime lord. Penguin scratched his head with a confused expression as he glanced around the room, but when he saw nothing, he relaxed. Leaving his two henchmen passed out on the floor, the former villain straightened his hat and scooped up the remains of his umbrella before leaving the room.

Earth 2- Palace of the Lords

Superman sat at his desk handling some paperwork as he prepared to turn in for the night, a look of apprehension crossing his features as he stamped the election request form with the word "DENIED". The world's politicians had been sending protests lately, begging the Justice Lords to be allowed to hold elections this year, having been long since due for a change of power, but those in charge had been denying them this right for years now. Superman enjoyed the stability they had created, and feared that frequent changes in government could ultimately place someone in office that would have the nerve to go against their protectors. As the lords of justice, they could not allow that to happen and always approached the subject with caution.

It wasn't as if it really mattered, since politicians had long since become token representatives, but they still remained in the public's eye, meaning that one defiant leader could spark some kind of resistance, thereby adding to the growing forms of protest happening all around the world. Bearing these thoughts in mind, the Man of Steel looked at the large grandfather clock on the wall of his large office, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face as he realized it was almost time to turn in for the night.

Although he was invulnerable, the stress of maintaining the world's stability under the code of his Absolute Justice was often taxing, resulting in severe mental strain. Weary from the day's activities, he set down his paperwork and took a moment to admire his office. It was a very large room, easily three times the size of the average office, a large monitor positioned on the wall, and a set of elegant windows to his back as his desk with positioned opposite from the door, which gave the room a hallway like appearance, albeit much bigger. His desk was carved out of the finest mahogany and thus extremely expensive, a large golden seal emblazoned on the front and carved with the symbol of the Justice Lords.

There was also a large red carpet leading direction from his desk to the door, and a set of statues positioned closely to the door, both cared out of silver and fashioned in his likeness. Each of them held up a flag, and engraved onto the bases of both statues were the words "Absolute Justice" The sides of the room were lined with expensive-looking couches, and pedestals bearing valuable Kryptonian artifacts encased in glass. The walls of the room also bore and elegance, and the chandeliers that lit the room were fashioned from the finest glass. To the right of his desk was a potted plant, the leaves shooting up several feet.

The complex where his office was located was known as the Palace of the Lords… a might structure built atop one a mountain, it's size and complexity easily rivaling that of the world's most famous castles. The entire building was of a similar level of elegance even when compared to his office, but the most luxurious chambers were his own personal quarters that only he was allowed to enter. In addition to it's beauty, the building was also known for being an impenetrable stronghold, seeing how the only people allowed in were authorized personnel and those who came by invitation.

He prepared to leave the immaculate office, but the sound of hurried footsteps quickly caught his attention. Looking up to see what all the commotion was about, a soldier burst through the doors of his office with a tense expression. The military officers sunk into a bow as he crossed the room, only rising when the Justice Lord motioned for him to do so. Superman was surprised that someone would intrude on him like this, but decided that if they would risk angering him it was probably something urgent.

"I will accept any punishment later, but I have come with an important message from J'onn J'onzz of the Justice Lords." The soldier explained with a hasty salute. "He said that it was important that I deliver this information personally to you, World Commander-in-Chief!"

Superman gave him a scrutinizing expression, followed by a small nod. "Go ahead, speak…" he ordered.

The man took out a piece of paper from his pocket and read it quickly before explaining. "The warden of Titans Prison has committed treason by attacking Supergirl when she arrived to punish one of the inmates."

"He was always very loyal to our cause… That doesn't seem like something he would do under ordinary circumstances." the Man of Steel mused with a confused expression as he scratched his chin.

"With all due respect, it was not as simple as that." The soldier replied quickly.

"How so?" the Kryptonian questioned with a look of renewed interest.

His subordinate saluted again and stood at attention. "According to our personnel and several reports, the prisoner in question was a powerful hero from the Justice League's world, having been stranded in our own dimension after some kind of accident."

Superman felt is body tense up at the mention of the Justice League, and how they had tried to ruin the peace on his world. It would have worked too, had they not managed to escape the League's earth and return home just in time to stop their Batman from restoring the corrupted system that the Justice League had so readily supported. The very thought of misguided fools brought his temper to the surface, but when his expression frightened the soldier, he decided it was better not to allow this to get the better of him.

After considering this new development for a moment, the world's commander seemed to settle down. "Hmmm… This is certainly a strange and unfortunate turn of events. Bearing this in mind I would assume that Kara would have dealt with this Justice League member, but that still doesn't explain Cyborg's sudden betrayal."

"According to the records I received from the Watchtower, this person who came here from the other dimension was that world's version of Garfield Logan, also known as Beast Boy." The man explained to his superior. "It is a known fact that the warden was a good friend of our world's Beast Boy before the latter was murdered by Lex Luthor's presidential regime along with the Flash and several others."

Superman fell silent for a minute as he allowed these new developments to sink in. "If this is true, then perhaps it would explain why someone so loyal turned against us so quickly." The hero's rational expression suddenly became irritable. "Allowing sentiments for a past friend to interfere with the true justice of the world is anything but admirable… He was weak! "

"Sir?" the soldier questioned with a bewildered expression.

"The very ideals that heroes from the Justice League's world treasure are the original sentiments that we had to fix in order to create peace in our own dimension. A hero with such values has no place in this world, and as such his ideals could be disastrous if they spread to others." Superman explained with a fearsome sense of certainty. "Cyborg's treason is evidence of this matter, and both he and this Justice League scum must be made into examples!"

The military officer cowered slightly. "To make matters worse worse, the warden's interference also resulted in the escape of the prisoner."

"What did you say?" the enraged hero replied, his eyes blazing with a sense of innate fury. "He must be found and eliminated as soon as possible!"

"You got that right, boyscout…" a third voice replied.

The Kryptonian stood up from his seat with an apprehensive look, his eyes moving towards the door as a third figure entered the room. A large man over six feet in height entered the room, his suit completely red in color and covering his entire body and face. The costume was no ordinary garment, as the pressurized suit contained his awesome power. Like the infamous Captain Atom, be was also a being of pure energy, thus he was no longer flesh and blood. Although he lacked the other hero's ability to fly, his abilities were just as potent, perhaps even more deadly in some ways then others. The soldier looked frightened at this new arrival, although his superior did not back down.

"What are you doing here?" the Man of Steel narrowed his eyes.

His new visitor let out a sickening laugh. "Sorry for intruding in your conversation, but I just happened to be heading here to issue my report when I caught you mid-rant." He replied mockingly.

Superman settled back into his chair and folded his arms. "You had better have a good reason for butting in like this. What's going on now is none of your concern, Major Force!"

The red-clad hero smirked with a sense of bloodlust that even some of the Justice Lords found terrifying. "If this pest you mentioned earlier needs to be taken care of, I would be more than happy to do the job for you. Just give me the word, and he's as good as dead…"

The Man of Steel watched his new visitor for a moment as he wondered whether or not this was a good idea, but after due consideration his face lit up with an interested smirk. "You know what, I might just hold you to that." He folded his hands on his desk and raised and eyebrow. "Very well then… I'll have J'onn give you the details before you start searching for the enemy."

"That's fine… So long as I get to kill him." Major Force replied jeeringly.

Superman warned him "We do not kill needlessly, but in this case the cause is warranted. We can't afford any errors this time!"

The psychotic hero let out a hoarse laugh as he turned to leave, stopping as he reached the other side of the room. He turned to face his superior once more, displaying a look of satisfaction, his eyes moving towards one of the larger than life statues by the door. "Listen here, blue boy… When I find him, this is what's going to happen to him."

Major Force raised his hand, releasing a blast of concentrated energy so powerful that it destroyed the metal statue on contact, leaving behind a smoldering pile of metallic bits and a darkened space on the floor where it had been moments ago. The blackened remains stank of molten metal, but the example seemed to have its desired affect. Superman stood up with a slightly affronted expression, while the soldier standing beside wore a look of complete terror at having witnesses such power. The force of the miniaturized nuclear expression was nothing short of shear horror.

Although the statue was expensive, Superman didn't seem too concerned at the moment. "That really wasn't necessary." He commented with a disapproving expression.

"Whatever you say…" The erasable hero replied with a note of sarcasm. Without so much as a backwards glance, Major Force exited through the double doors and into the darkened hallways beyond. His evil smirk returned as he prepared to begin his newest mission, the joy of finding another victim filling him with an unparalleled rush. "Heheheh… And so the hunt begins!"

Note to Readers: Here's another chapter… Sorry for the long gap between updates, but sometimes writing a chapter can be hard to do, especially since this one wasn't all that interesting. As usual I wrote most of this chapter late at night, so please excuse the spelling and grammatical mistakes that are probably scattered throughout this chapter. I know the Earth 1 bit seemed kid of a waste of time, but since so much was happening in Earth 2, I felt it was necessary to check in on Nightwing and Batgirl on Earth 1 at some point.

I think Beast Boy and Raven will be back into the loop next chapter. For those of your who don't know about Major Force, he is a former murderer and rapist who was forced to participate in a similar project to the one that created Captain Atom, and then forced to become a superhero. You can probably tell from this chapter that he has no noble goals and is openly a killer. If you want to see more of him, watch the direct-to-DVD animated movie, Batman/Superman: Public Enemies… It was awesome and it gave me the idea of adding him into this story.

Hope you guys enjoyed this update. Please **REVIEW**, because it motivates me to keep writing the story, because the ideas and critiques I get help motivate me to update. If you liked or a certain aspect or element of the story or have questions, feel free to mention them as well.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Uncovering the Truth**

Earth 1- Watchtower

The young demoness had been relatively busy for awhile now, but for the first time in days she had returned to the Watchtower for official reasons. Having been incredibly worried about her green friend's well being, she had never actually told the higher-ups to place her on the Justice League's inactive roster, and had because they were unaware of her preoccupation she had been assigned several missions in the last few days and had been absent for all of them. She had been fortunate that more recent hero work had consisted of minor threats, but the Martian still lectured her in the control room for her lack of consideration.

Naturally she shrugged off his words without complaint before temporarily decommissioning herself for the next week or so, and had moved on to eat lunch in the cafeteria before heading back to Doctor Fate's tower for continued research. Although her demonic physiology did not require as much food as an ordinary human would, she had begun to feel the hunger pains and knew that she would likely collapse without any food or rest. Raven had spent the better part of her free time searching for ways to bring her green-skinned hero back, searching through Doctor Fate's extensive collection of magical tomes and ancient texts for hours without rest.

The very idea that Beast Boy had been trapped in another dimension was disturbing enough, but the fact that she felt responsible made the pain much worse. As Teen Titans they had always been good friends, especially after her father's defeat. Despite her distant personality and his habit of telling bad jokes at inopportune times, no matter what she placed him through whether intentional or not, he had never once hesitated to crack her a goofy smile and call her his friend. While this thought usually gave her a warm feeling inside, the blue-clad sorceress felt her stomach lurch as she thought of his cheerful façade.

Over the years she had discovered his painful past fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, and the outbursts and scolding he often endured from his adoptive father Mento, but the fact that he had been an orphan before meeting the Doom Patrol was what made her realize how tough his life had been. Growing up she had initially seen him as a friendly nuisance, but after the team split up for four years she found herself craving his company, and although she would never admit it out loud, the day she saw him again was one of her most treasured memories.

The young demoness blushed slightly as she remembered seeing him again after fours years of separation. They had parted ways as teenagers but during this meeting they had both grown into fine adults. Her figure had become noticeably more shapely than before, and her eyes bore a warmer disposition despite her cool exterior, however she was much more surprised by his growth. Beast Boy was now noticeably taller than her when they met again, his broad shoulders and slightly muscular physique a definite improvement on the goofy kid she remembered living with back at Titans Tower.

After the team came back together she had found herself staring at him when no one was looking, silently enjoying his humor with an impassive expression like she always had. Having spent most of her meal trapped in her own thoughts, she barely noticed the food passing through her lips and ate in silence, only giving small nods as the heroes eating with her spoke to each other. Red Star and Wildcat were discussing different fights they had been involved in during recent missions, but their third dinner companion had very little interested in listening. While she tried to appear as courteous as possible, the female magician had too many other things on her mind right now.

Without so much as a word, she stood up and slid the remaining items on here tray into a nearby trashcan before sweeping from the room. Her two companions looked up to see where she was going, but did not bother to question her rather cold demeanor and shrugged off her departure without bothering to question where she was heading. Her hood shifted slightly as she passed through the double doors, falling aside to reveal her pale face. While her complexion was usually a sickly color to begin with, she betrayed signs of weariness that completed the affect. Dark circles had formed due to her lack of sleep, and the dull look in her eyes displayed a sense of age that made her appear much older than she actually was.

Wandering the halls back to the main room of the space station, she planned to go back home, but as she boarded the elevator leading down to the central floor, a strange thought crossed her mind. Although her research about magic had yet to yield any promising results, she remember that the bottom floor of the space station was usually where the heroes did their research. Te crime lab was located a few floors up, but the place she was considered was for special cases that lacked any substantial physical evidence and did not fit conventional circumstances. She hesitated for a moment as her hand wandered towards the control panel, but it did not take her long to make up her mind.

Raven pressed the switch indicating the basement floor, the cylindrical tube pushing her downwards as she descended into the space stations lowest levels. After a few seconds, the door swung open to reveal a dingy hallway. While most of the other levels had personnel and heroes scurrying around, these halls was much more vacant. This became much more apparent as she stepped into the gloomy lighting, and a feeling of loneliness descended on her as the elevator doors slid shut behind her.

While some people would have found this area scary, she had been here before, and due to the nature of her powers was not easily perturbed by something as mundane as the darkness. After all, even Batman had a private study down here that he would use when not stationed home in Gotham City, although for that reason people usually left him alone when he was working down here anyway. Considering that he wasn't even on duty right now there was no point in asking the Dark Knight for help, but at the moment there was one more person who she believed could give her some more insight on her recent problems.

During her early days as a member of the Justice League, she had once wandered down here, but this time she actually had a reason. She was searching for a certain man… Granted the hero she wanted to see was a widely known crackpot, but when it came time to discussing unconventional science or finding answers to the most mysterious cases there was no better man for the job. The young sorceress had worked with him before, and although she had little desire to see him again, it was probably her best option at this point.

As if on cue, a dark figure sauntered into the hallway, moving into her path as he moved into the dimly lit corridor. She was a tall woman had a shapely figure garbed in revealing clothing, a dark legless outfit covering her lower regions and breasts while the opening in the front gave others a clear view of her midriff. The dark-clad hero also wore a seductive expression on her rosy lips, although the affect did not reach her eyes due to the large angular super hero mask covering the top half of her face. A utility belt similar to Batman's hung from her waist, and a large black cape was draped gently over her shoulders.

The female hero seemed to be waving goodnight to the person in the room she had just left when her eyes settled on Raven. The young sorceress merely stared back at the woman with an impassive expression, but she recognized her as the Huntress, a superhero fired from the Justice League for her acts of excessive violence. Although she was no longer an official member, the female vigilante had an interesting if no vaguely creepy relationship with the man Raven was searching for.

Huntress folded her arms and leaned against the nearby wall with a look of mild interest. "It's not very often that people come down here. Let me guess… You came down here to have a good laugh at the guy who runs this department?"

The young sorceress nodded in agreement, her grim expression betraying her no nonsense personality. "Since you're hanging around I would assume that the conspiracy buff is here right now too." She commented with a note of concern. "This isn't a joke, I need to see him immediately."

"Well don't let me stop you… I'm not even in the league anymore." The masked woman added with a sarcastic grimace. She pushed open the door with her free hand and gestured forward mockingly before going through the door first anyway.

An odd man sat behind the desk in the room beyond, his featureless visage deeply focused on the newspaper clippings in front of him. Although his face seemed like nothing more than a smooth flesh-colored surface, it was only a mask he wore over his real face to conceal his features from other people. Surprisingly he would see perfectly well through the material, and for that reason he rarely bothered to remove it, especially when on duty. He wore a blue suit and a matching detective's hat, a yellow collar shirt and black tie visible through the open collar of his jacket. As a hero on duty, he was known only as the Question.

Although he heard his female companion step back in, the strange hero did not look up from his work. "Back so soon Helena…" the faceless man commented without so much as an upwards glance. "If you still insist on going to dinner, I am regrettably very busy at the moment. I already promised you I would make some time tomorrow."

"I'll make sure to hold you to that…" Huntress answered with a shadow of a smile. "Still, if you actually bothered to look up for even a second you would realize that we have another visitor."

The Question raised his head just in time to see their new visitor, although his expression was hidden by his flesh-colored mask. He immediately recognized the young girl standing beside his girlfriend as the demonic witch who founded the old Teen Titans organization alongside Dick Grayson, the changeling, the robot man, and the Tamaranean girl. Naturally he had spoken with her in the past if only briefly, but through his research about her past experiences and origin, he had discovered many terrifying things about her. Being who he was the faceless conspiracy buff was known for going through other peoples' trash and conducting extensive research on his colleagues and enemies alike, but of all the people he had ever met, she was one of the most fascinating.

Raven stepped forward with a wary expression as her violet orbs slid back and forth, silently eying the room's strange décor. Several newspaper clippings were scattered throughout the room, many of which were pinned or taped to the walls, connected by lines that seemed to indicate a correlation between the events and people depicted in the articles. Of course she failed to see how the girl scouts were associated with the crop circle phenomenon, or how dental fluoride had anything to do with government spy satellites, but at the moment she couldn't care less about whatever was going through his twisted mind.

As she neared his desk, the faceless man stood up to greet her, even though his movements displayed signs of hesitation. "If you've come here to laugh at my theories than feel free to exit the way you came, although from what I read on your Justice League profile, you hardly seem like the type who would waste her time with such childish games."

"I see you've done your research…" Raven took the seat in front of the stranger, an irritated look flashing across her face for a second or two. "Nevertheless, it seems like you enjoy poking into other people's persona lives."

Huntress prodded the younger woman in the side as she approached from behind. "Don't flatter yourself, kid… Q runs background checks on pretty much everyone for his own purposes, although you probably shouldn't ask him too much unless you're willing to spend the next week or so listening to the workings of his grand conspiracy theory."

"Scoff if you will, but my work is very important." The suited man replied nonchalantly.

His girlfriend fell silent at this assertion, having long gotten used to his tendency to defend his crazy conspiracy theories. Of course she had very little interest in most of them, but his company was well worth a few lectures on his part. She was happy to hear him out so long as he was willing to deviate from his grandiose thesis to pay some attention to her. It might not have seemed like much of a relationship, but truthfully speaking he understood her better than anyone she had ever met, and even placed his own well being on the line to help her. Although she not particularly fond the Justice League's methods, the female vigilante tolerated the other heroes and came aboard the space station just to spend time with him.

When nobody spoke for several minutes, the young sorceress took it upon herself to start the conversation again. Word around the Watchtower was that this man had a lot of theories surrounding alternate dimensions as well as the workings of time and space, something that she believed might provide her with a clue on how to get Beast Boy back. She glanced up at the older woman stand beside her and back at the Question, both of which seemed to be caught up in their own thoughts. The young sorceress noticed that the faceless man was seated once more and had gone back to observing his newspaper clipping with a magnifying glass during the previous pause.

"So I take it this is how you treat a guest…" the demoness commented with an even tone. The dark-clad vigilante looked down at their visitor, but when the other did not respond Raven stood up in the hope that he would at least looks at her. When she spoke again her tone was controlled and even, but a note of impatience lingered. "I didn't come here to criticize your theories… I came here to get some answers."

The Question looked up, his attention instantly gravitating towards the female magician. He stood up and rested both hands on the flat surface of his desk, quietly observing her through the flesh-colored material of his mask. He gave her an appraising look behind his mask, silently probing the demoness for malevolent intentions or a sign that she was joking. His female companion glanced between the two as Raven returned his stare, but after a moment a strange understanding seemed to grow between them and both heroes seemed to calm down a little, although neither sat back down. From looking into her eyes, the strange man only saw pure intentions and felt more comfortable in her presence.

"Very well then…" the man loosened his tie with his free hand and relaxed his shoulders. "So, for what reason would the daughter of Trigon possibly need to see a mere mortal like me?"

Raven was slightly surprised that he had addressed her in such a manner, but if he did research on his fellow heroes as they said, it was obvious how he knew. Her file from Titans Tower had been added to the Watchtower's computer when she joined the Justice League, and as such there were a few things that he would have learned. How much he knew about her life was something she would be sure to ask at a later date, but at the moment the young sorceress had more important things to worry about.

She gave her host an odd expression, but decided that now was probably the best chance to get some information out of him. "I heard that you did some research during the Cadmus incident two years ago that involved the concept of alternate dimensions existing alongside we recognize as our own reality."

"Naturally…" the Question replied with pronounced interest. "Although I was tasked with a number of different things at the time, and this concept of alternate reality was only one small piece of the larger picture. I'm afraid that you may have to search else ware if you desire to hear a full explanation of this phenomenon."

"Yeah… Q is definitely more about theory than science." Huntress added with a casual shrug.

The blue clad half-demon took a single step forward, although her action did not seem to startle her host. "I've heard that you're an eccentric man who searches for answers whenever there is something of interest. No matter what the case, I sincerely doubt that you are entirely foreign to this topic. All I desire from you right now is your insight…" she added with a resolute expression.

The Question blinked behind his face cover, looking slightly flabbergasted by her words. He wasn't surprised that she had sought him out, far from it. From the recent events in Jump City involving that dimensional transporter, he half expected one of the heroes involved to seek him out looking for answers as to what happened to their missing friend. He was more surprised that she wanted to hear his theories considering that people rarely came to him for that reason. His levelheaded nature quickly resurfaced as he turned to face the girl sitting across from him, and he took a moment to mull over the situation.

Raven gave him a small nod, her shadow of her hood covering her eyes as she peered at him through the darkness. "What do you know about alternative realities, and how can we access these other forms of existence?" she questioned.

Her host hesitated for a moment as if struggling to figure out a way to explain his combination of theory and fact, but after taking a moment to glance around the room and compose himself, the faceless man made eye contact with her once more. "This may take awhile, so I will start with a little bit of background information first."

"For something like this, I've got time…" the young sorceress answered courteously.

"Very good then, but remember that this will be a combination of theory and fact, all of which are based upon what we know already about this phenomenon as well as the conclusions I have drawn from this preexisting data." The Question commented in an amused tone.

The young sorceress shifted impatiently in her seat, extending her hand as if allowing him to move ahead. "Go ahead and tell me what you can… I will choose what to believe once you have finished this explanation."

He took a deep breath before speaking again. "To our knowledge, the universe is an infinite plane filled with countless worlds and galaxies the likes of which we can scarcely comprehend, but in this one space exist multiple timelines, and thus many different dimensions. As many of us have learned in the past, there are some realities so different that we would scarcely recognize them as such, while others are so similar to our own that we could bare distinguish the subtle differences."

Raven's eyes widened slightly as she remembered something from the early days of the Teen Titans. "Wait, I remember years ago a strange boy once appeared from another world claiming he was that reality's version of our Robin. He called himself Larry, and he had some kind of strange power that could bend reality itself. Personally I wasn't entirely sure what to think of the situation at the time, but the situation speaks for itself."

"Most likely the reality he was from is much different from our own, much like the strange man-like creature that Superman encountered in Metropolis named Mr. Myxlplyx." The Question replied as he scratched his chin. "However as I mentioned moments ago, there are dimensions much more similar to our own, and it is these worlds that may prove to be more important in relation to our own reality."

"Are you by chance referring to that crazy world that the seven founding members of the Justice League once stumbled into?" Raven placed once leg over the other and leaned back as she settled herself into a more comfortable position as she spoke.

"Which brings us back to Project Cadmus…" the masked detective looked pleased that she was able to follow him so easily. "The directors of that government black-ops group feared the timeline in that dimension, in which a parallel version of the Justice League known as the Justice Lords lost their sanity and established a totalitarian dictatorship to enforce a false peace. In the case that our world's heroes ever did the same, the United States started Project Cadmus so that they would have a fighting chance."

The young sorceress frowned as she listened to this last part, having heard this once before from her fellow heroes. "I understand, but how does it directly relate to your explanation?" she pressed him.

Her host nodded compliantly. "I was just getting to that… The fact was that this alternate world, while seemingly the same as our own up until a certain point, was spawned through decisions. From this point onward, my explanation branches off into what many other people would consider to be theory. My belief is that every decision that any creature on this planet makes creates an entirely new dimension in which we made a different decision."

"Wouldn't that create an infinite number of worlds?" Raven's eyes widened in a sense of mingled fear fascination as she dreaded what the answer would be.

"That is the main focus of my multiverse theory…" The Question replied, a dark shadow falling over his covered face. "If my beliefs are correct, the universal truth of the world may only prove that reality is a fickle concept, seeing how anytime we made one decision, there may exist a version of us who made the opposite choice. Such subtle differences created by sentient beings change the flow of the time stream and spawn an entirely new dimension, and likewise there are probably billions of worlds in existence, perhaps many more."

Raven looked as though she had just been slapped in the face, her gaze blank an empty, but in a different way than before. Her sudden burst of dread sent out a surge of dark magic, which quickly enveloped the chair beneath her, causing it to shatter into splinters. Huntress took a step forward as if she was going to reprimand the younger girl, but her boyfriend raised a hand to stop her from doing anything irrational. The young sorceress felt as though her entire body was covered in freezing water, and only then did she notice her cold sweat.

She had always known about the existence of other dimensions as details through her research and experiences, but the idea that this ludicrous theory could be true filled her with dread. How could she ever find Beast Boy if there really were an infinite number of place he could have been sent to? She had thought about this concept before now, but always attempted to push the thought from her mind before it festered. Now that someone had so bluntly presented the possibility to her, her worst fears had begun to return. Raven leaned forward slightly and placed a finger to her forehead as she struggled to rationalize the situation a little more. Controlling her emotions under times of stress was difficult, and she needed to calm down or risk releasing more energy that could unintentionally harm the people around her. Once she had regained control of her feelings, the man sitting across from her recovered from his own state of surprise, although from his mannerisms she could tell that he was more fascinated by her abilities than repulsed.

"What I have told you is merely a concept that I have constructed in order to interpret a few of the instances in which our dimension has come into contact with other planes of existence. Although my research is sound, I will admit that this is merely my own hypothesis… Tell me, do believe this multiverse theory?" The faceless man pressed her.

Raven looked up at her host with a dismal expression, her head nodding solemnly. "Those of us who study the working of magic are also familiar with this phenomenon, although I was afraid to consider the possibility that it was real."

"Wow, this has got to be the first time someone even agreed with Q." Huntress folded her arms and leaned her back against the wall with a look of disbelief, although her expression changed to a look of amusement as she glanced towards the demoness. "I saw how shook up you were just now… You must be really upset about what happened to greenie."

"He was one of my best friends, so naturally I would be upset about what happened." The young sorceress remarked.

The female vigilante smirked in response. "Keep telling yourself that, but even if you fool yourself, I'm not stupid enough to believe that."

Even though her expression remained impassive, the blue-clad spell caster felt an uncharacteristic flush fill her cheeks. With a barely audible scowl, she reached back and pulled her hood up so that the shadow covered her face. "You don't know anything about me…" she sneered with a look of revulsion.

While her reaction remained indifferent, Raven couldn't help but consider the older woman's words no matter how much it pained her on the inside. Even if she had cared about Beast Boy that way, what difference did it make? If anything it would make matters worse considering that she felt partially responsible for what happened to him. With a swish of her robes, she began to head for the floor. The Question said nothing as he observed his uninvited visitor, but Huntress seemed to take her adversary's reaction as a victory and continued, although this time her tone was noticeably more serious.

"I can't say my life was picnic either, but we all have our own burdens to carry. Don't think for a minute that you are any different from anyone else." Huntress placed a hand on Raven's shoulder causing the younger girl to stop. "I also suggest you begin thinking really long and hard about what I said earlier about greenie."

"What gives you the gall to judge me?" Raven responded emotionlessly.

The older woman revealed a small grin. "If I can accept the fact that I'm in love with one of the world's biggest crackpots, you shouldn't be so intent on denying yourself either."

Raven hesitated for a moment as she reached the doorway, a strange longing lingering in her eyes. After a moment she shook her head to clear her own thoughts and instead of answering Huntress she addressed her host. "Before I leave, tell me if you know anyone else who could help me?"

The Question paused for a moment to think before answering. "I believe that Batman did some research concerning this particular subject, and John Stewart might know something as well. If all else fails there are experts working at Star Labs and LexCorp who might be able to help you, but personally I would stay away from them for obvious reasons."

"I'll keep that in mind…" Turning on her heel, Raven stepped through the doorway and disappeared into the darkened halls, the sound of her footsteps fading away as she left to continue her research.

Once they were certain she had left, Huntress unfolded her arms and shot her boyfriend a distasteful expression. "Talk about being in denial." She commented roughly. "Her reaction made it pretty clear, wouldn't you agree? I don't even know her all that well and it's pretty clear she likes that Beast Boy guy."

The faceless man sat back down and continued pouring over the newspaper article he had been probing earlier for signs of government tampering. After settling himself into a more comfortable position, he looked back up at her. "Although I'm hardly the person who should be saying this, perhaps you shouldn't judge that girl so harshly. She's been through things that we mere mortal can only scarcely imagine…"

"As you already know, I can imagine quite a lot of pain and suffering, considering I was dealt my fair share of it at a very young age." The woman shot back scornfully.

"If only you knew the truth…" The Question answered cryptically.

Earth 2- ?

Batman sat by his computer as he tracked the activity of law enforcement and military personal around the world, silently coordinating his resistance units and through his advanced network of informants. There were times when he felt guilty about working against former friends using such an underhanded methods, but ever since the Justice League's visit to their world he knew that he was doing the right thing. Upon the arrest of the other Justice Lords, Batman had been the only one of them left and thus he had slowly begun to rebuild his world. Things had been going well for quite some time, but before he could return power to the world's political leaders, his former comrades escaped their confinement and seized control once more.

Needless to say that they were shocked that their Batman was planning to return things to the way they once were, but that didn't stop Superman from imprisoning him and sentencing him to life in jail for his treasonous acts. Using their resources the remaining five Justice Lords dismantled the rebuilt world and returned to power through sheer force, recruiting dozens of like-minded heroes to aid in their quest to enforce the principles of Absolute Justice. Bruce Wayne was sad to see that among these people were his former sidekick Dick Grayson, and several of his teammates from the Titans.

It was several weeks after the heroes reestablished their control that Batman escaped and formed a resistance army, calling on heroes that did not wish to serve the Justice Lords and freeing several wrongfully accused prisoners. He even rallied people who were willing to stand up and fight, and ever since then the world had been trapped in a state of warfare. It hadn't been his intention to do this, but sometimes standing up for what was right had its drawbacks. Although he was adamant against such tactics, several resistance leaders serving under him had even begun freeing super villains from jail in order to aid them. As useful as they could be, he would never authorize it because many of these prisoners were just as bad as the Justice Lords, and many were much worse.

Several people he card about had died during the purge of heroes who refused to follow the Justice Lords. Among the unfortunate victims was Barbara Gordon who was one of the people he was closest to. Although she had survived, her injuries had taken her out of the game and she was no longer able to continue serving in the field. He was appalled the evils that they had endured, and wondered why so many people had sided with Superman. The other heroes were foolish if they believed that they had any power under him, seeing how Superman had become noticeably corrupted in the last few years. As bad as it had been before, he had become far worse after getting defeated by the Justice League's Superman.

Focused on his work of coordinating his resistance movements, he barely noticed the metallic door sliding open behind him followed by a woman. She was of average height with a medium build, with a shapely figure and a noticeably tan complexion. Her hair was cut rather short, and her brows were dark and luscious, accentuating her dark eyes and rosy lips. The woman wore a form fitting gray costume with a pink symbol on his torso shaped like Batman's own insignia. She was Kathleen Duquesne, the daughter of a former mobster, and although he had never given her an official title like he did with his sidekicks, this she taken up a self-made mantel and referred to herself as Batwoman when on duty.

Years ago Bruce had been in a relationship with her not knowing her secret identity, but a few hints had tipped him off and after a while they grew apart. She abandoned the mantle for awhile but when Superman and the others returned, Kathleen returned under her superhero name and had been fighting alongside him during as a resistance general since. Despite the harsh times in which they lived, Batman occasionally felt his old feelings for her, but understood that being locked in a battle for the future of their world was hardly the time to rekindle broken bonds.

Kathleen cleared her throat in order to get his attention, although when he didn't answer she decided to make herself known whether he was actually listening or not. "I came here thinking you might want to know what's going on in the field, but if you insist on ignoring me than I'll be happy to leave."

Batman saw her face reflected through one of his monitors and acknowledged her with a small grunt. "I'm listening…" he answered maddeningly.

"I received word that one of our main outposts was bombed recently, and everyone present was either captured or killed." She began with a deadpan expression.

The Dark Knight looked slightly perturbed as he swiveled his seat around to face her directly, although his stoic expression and mannerisms did not change. "I was wondering why the western unit wasn't responding to our calls, and unfortunately it seems that this is the worst case scenario." He hesitated for a moment before addressing her again. "To your knowledge, who did they capture and is there anyone left?"

Kathleen shook her head slowly in response. "Unfortunately there were no survivors, although we did find one man buried in the rubble who managed to hang on just long enough to tell us that all of the heroes stationed there were captured alive. The last thing he was able to tell us before passing on was that Nightwing was leading the attack."

Batman had already guessed this as soon as she told him that the heroes had been captured alive, seeing how his former sidekick was possibly the most humane of the Justice Lords. It was good to see that Dick Grayson hadn't entirely abandoned the things that he had been taught about what it meant to be a hero, but it didn't make him feel any better knowing that Nightwing of all people had taken his place among the commanders serving alongside Superman himself. Truthfully he couldn't bring himself to hate someone he had thought of as his own son, but that didn't change the fact that he was now helping to spread the corruption. He mulled over these thoughts, but the door slid open again, revealing two more figures.

The first was a reasonably tall man with very short red hair and a mask very similar to the one worn by Robin. He was relatively lean save for his slightly muscular physique, and wore a large quiver of arrows on his back in addition to his red superhero costume, which was cut short at the sleeves, revealing his muscular arms. The woman standing beside him was shorter but her long blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and shapely body gave her a rather stunning appearance. They were Speedy and Black Canary, two of the many heroes who were recent freed from prison by Batman to serve in the resistance. The red-clad archer looked deeply annoyed, while the woman beside him seemed more distraught in comparison.

"Hey Bruce, is it true what they've been saying? Did Ollie really get himself arrested by the Justice Lords?" Black Canary asked with a quiver.

Batwoman looked as though she understood their plight, but chose to be honest with them. "I;m sorry, but he was captured by a group of heroes led by Nightwing. They attacked west headquarters and took all of our heroes captive after bombing the central bunker and killing off the others."

"Damn it…" the blonde woman replied, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

"That idiot!" Speedy added with a gruff expression. "He should have known that there was no chance of winning if the big dogs sent down one of their own. Knowing them they probably sent some of their most powerful members to put down the resistance. He should've ordered a retreat as soon as the first shot was fired to minimize casualties."

Black Canary elbowed the younger hero hard. "Are you suggesting that this was his fault? Ollie did what he thought was right, and it's not like his former sidekick could've done any better."

"You mean former partner…" the red archer corrected her as he straightened up.

Kathleen held out an arm between the two heroes, her gaze shifting towards the masked bowman. "We all know that there's some bad blood between you and Green Arrow, but if you bothered to pay attention, you might notice that Dinah is clearly upset about all of this."

Speedy glanced over at the blonde woman before facing Batwoman instead. "I know how she feels… We may have had our differences, but Ollie was still like a father to me and I would never have wished this on him no matter what the case. You have to admit that he made a bad decision this time, and now we're all paying for it."

The siren-like woman opened her mouth to say something else, but a sudden motion from the back of the room quickly caught their attention as Batman stood up from his seat, his towering figure casting a large shadow over the trio's discussion. "He's right…" their leader remarked coldly. "Because of him we may have to re-organize the entire operation."

Batwoman tensed up at this assertion. "What makes you say that?" she asked carefully.

"Green Arrow in the others knew a lot of crucial information about our movements, and if J'onn probes their minds he can relay anything of interest to the Kryptonian." Batman replied with a grim expression as he took another step forward. "If they find out where we and how to interpret our communication codes, it's only a matter of time before they send out an army and personally spearhead the attack."

"We would have pretty much no chance of surviving that." The red-clad archer cut in.

"Less than a five percent that any of us would survive if they sent out their most powerful members and concentrated all of their resources of eradicating the resistance." The Dark Knight added with disdain.

Black Canary shuffled forward with a slightly pained expression, although due to her proud nature as a female fighter she did her best to appear strong. "Please tell me there's something we can do to save them." She pleaded.

Batman turned his back on her as he headed back to the main computer and quickly typed in a series of commands that would send signals out to warn the others of their state of emergency. He checked to make sure that the message got to every major member of the resistance before facing his guests once more. "I'm not sure if we'll get a chance to save the prisoners, but right now our number one priority is to warn everyone that all operations are to be suspended until further notice."

As dawning expression lit Kathleen's face as though she immediately understood. "You're sending everyone into hiding until we can implement new codes and rework our spy network." She deduced out loud.

"Which is exactly why we can't waste any more time talking about it." Batman cut past her without so much as backwards glance and headed for the door, using his free hand to set off the evacuation alarm on the wall. He glanced back and noticed that the other three heroes were following in his wake.

Speedy nodded compliantly. "What do you need the rest of us to do?"

"I need you three to clear out any personnel and use your clearance to authorize the use of the stealth vehicles. Each of your will lead one team and make your escape while I save any and all valuable data from our computer systems." Batman explained quickly. "Once I unlock the autopilot functions of the escape ships, the crafts will automatically send you to the rondeveau point I have specified."

"How will you escape if we take the escape ships?" Kathleen questioned.

The Dark Knight did not seem to be worried. "I have my private transport waiting, but it's important that the rest of you get out as soon as possible. Once I'm finished taking down our computer network, I'll join you at the bunker and we can discuss further options."

Driven by his words, the three heroes split up and headed off to carry out his orders without question. Kathleen reached behind her back and seemed to pull out a silver-colored mask with pointy ears, and quickly placed he mask over her face now that she was on duty so to speak. She gave him a small salute before following after the others, and once she was gone her superior returned to the control room. Batman locked the door behind him as he shuffled over to the panel, making certain that no one could walk in on him before continuing his work.

After typing in a few codes, he activated a secret communications line which immediately linked him to an old friend who had played a key role in the success of the resistance. He pressed a button to complete the connection, resulting in a blank screen, which flickered a few times before revealing the familiar face of Barbara Gordon. Although the redhead appeared much the same as she did during her days in the field, she had exchanged the superhero costume for casual clothing and now wore a pair of stylish tinted glasses. Upon seeing her former mentor's face, she knew it had to be something important.

"Oracle here, how can I be of assistance." She replied, moving away from the camera slightly as she spoke.

Batman's face remained inscrutable as he caught sight of the wheelchair she was sitting in, although he had long regretted that fact that he wasn't there to help her the day that she lost her ability to walk. The room where she was seated was filled with the latest computers and other high-tech equipment. Although now physically handicapped, the former Batgirl had used her knowledge of technology to become the chief dispatcher and web-master or the rebellion's communication and information network. Despite never fully recovering from her injuries, the female vigilante had renamed herself Oracle, and found a way she could better serve the cause.

"Barbara, I need you to shut down our entire computer network for the next seventy-two hours and reset all of the passwords. Secondly, reroute the communication system to respond to a different frequency and make sure that the new information regarding these changes be sent to all major resistance members." Batman ordered quickly.

The former hero straightened her glasses with her free hand, looking slightly affronted by this sudden string of commands. "Is there something wrong that I should know about, or are you just having one of those days?"

Batman shook his head with an air of finality. "We have a potential security breach in the works due to Green Arrow and several other heroes getting captured alive by Nightwing's team somewhere in the western United States. If the Martian reads their minds the Justice Lords will have an instant window into our activities."

"Say no more… I'm on it!" Oracle responded with a quick nod.

"We'll join you in a few hours at the main terminal to regroup, however I recommend that you finish this job before we arrive." The Caped Crusader added.

"Over and out!" Reaching for a switch on her control panel, she quickly set to work.

She quickly turned off the monitor and began typing away furiously on several different keyboards, her eyes scanning several different monitors at once as he mind processed all of the information, allowing her to react accordingly. Using a master password of her own creation she quickly sealed off all network connections and began working on resetting he passwords once she was certain that no hackers could see what she was up too. As she carried out Batman's orders, the former Batgirl found herself thinking about Dick Grayson's involvement in the incident.

Barbara felt a rush of anger as she remembered the day he spurned her and went off with the alien princess, but in reality she had accepted his decision and this was not the cause of her irritation. She hated the fact that the man she once loved had sided with the people who permanently handicapped her, and thus destroyed her life as a crime-fighter. She was still no slouch when it came time to defending herself, but being trapped in wheelchair and unable to walk was the last thing she had ever hoped for.

It only stung more knowing that Nightwing was one of the leaders among the Justice Lords, and had participated in creating this terrible world. Batman had once done the same thing but he eventually saw the truth. Honestly she wasn't sure if Dick Grayson could or would ever redeem himself like their mentor had, but if one thing was certain it was that she would give him hell if they ever met again.

Earth 2- Watchtower

Nightwing wandered the halls of the Justice Lord's main space station, a small entourage accompanying him through the prison sector. J'onn J'onzz had volunteered to escort him to this section of the station, alongside Starfire who as his personal bodyguard was duty bound to protect him unless ordered otherwise. He tolerated their presence until they reached a door marked with the prison number that he was searching for.

Starfire bowed her head before him. "The prisoner may be dangerous… Shall I accompany you or do you still desire to talk to him by yourself?" she asked.

The young vigilante opened his mouth to answer, but the green-skinned alien standing behind him spoke to her instead. "You needn't worry, we have bound the prisoner to prevent his escape and due to the injuries he sustained recent, we doubt he would be of much threat even if he were free to move about."

"I'll be fine…" Nightwing added quickly.

The Martian Manhunter merely nodded in agreement. "Very well then, we will simply wait our here and allow you to speak to your friend alone. I have stationed several guards nearby in case you require assistance, but since we are here I doubt that will be necessary."

"Thanks." The younger hero replied with a sarcastic note. Unsure of what exactly he would see, the young vigilante motioned for the others to leave him be and entered the room beyond.

The room was soundproof so he wasn't worried about being overheard as the metallic doors slammed shut behind him, stranding him in the darkness for several seconds. A faint breathing caught his attention, but as the lights switch on he was greeted by a most disturbing sight. He stifled a gasp as he saw Cyborg's injured form shackled to the wall with titanium cuffs. A small trickle of blood oozed from his mouth and his metallic plating was torn open in several places, and his body covered in bloody gashes and swollen spots, some of which looked as though they hadn't even begun to heal. His human eye was closed, while his robotic eye had lost its glow, and one of his arms was missing.

As if sensing his friend's presence, the half-robot regained consciousness. "I see you came to see me in this hell…" he stated weakly.

Dick Grayson seemed to regain some of the composure he had lost upon initially seeing his friend's injuries. "Imagine my surprise when I heard that Supergirl tore you apart for doing something really stupid. Your one of my best friends so naturally I was concerned, but what I'm really curious about is why you turned on your friends…"

Cyborg coughed up a mouthful of blood and machine fluid as he was unable to cover his mouth in this position. He had taken a near-fatal beating from Superman's cousin after helping the green changeling escape from Titans Prison, but still he had no regrets. He remained quiet for several minutes in order to compose his thoughts, silently glad that his visitor had the courtesy to allow him this much. If the Kryptonian had been the first person to show up, this official interrogation probably would have been a much more brutal experience.

"The Martian told me what happened… All about the Beast Boy that appeared from the Justice League's dimension and how you protected him from execution." Nightwing added with deathly serious expression. "I was surprised that you would have done something so stupid… You were always one of the smarter people I knew. While he may have looked like our friend, you should have known that he was an intruder from another reality with dangerous ideals that could destroy our world."

"I tried telling myself that when he first showed up too, yet the more I thought about it, the more I began to see the truth… we've created a fake peace on this world the same as any dictator that had come before us." Despite his injuries, the half-robot hero managed a smile. "Tell me, when and why did we forsake ourselves and everything we once stood for? What made us forget the reason why we became heroes to begin with?"

Nightwing frowned in response to these questions. "How does that have anything to do with your actions. I can try to reduce whatever sentence you receive, but you have to tell me why you acted he way you did. Give me a good reason as to why you should be forgiven for your actions… I you can even answer that, I might be able to help you get out of this mess."

This time it was the robotic man's turn to show his disdain. "Because no matter what universe he calls home, Beast Boy is still Beast Boy…"

Note to Readers: Well it took me a while to write this chapter, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. I hope you guys enjoyed seeing the Earth 1 Raven seeing how it's been awhile, and I even added some romance in since the pairing in this story is Raven and Beast Boy. Sorry for any errors in spelling or grammar, but like I've said before, it's usually late when I write chapters for this story.

I hope you guys liked the addition of Earth 2 Barbara Gordon as the Oracle. Since the character did not appear in the DC Animated Universe, I figured I would use this concept in the Justice Lords dimension. I hope you guys liked the cliffhanger too: What will Nightwing's response be? Hmmm… Oh, and that whole multiverse explanation was partly a way for me to foreshadow the sequel for this story that I've been thinking about writing after I'm done with this one.

Oh, and please **REVIEW** if you get a chance. It gives me the motivation to keep writing this story and helps me update faster. I like critiques, compliments, and even criticisms. However I would also like to hear some ideas if any of you guys have some you would like to share or if you guys want to see something particular in my story.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A Matter of Faith**

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos.

Earth 2 - Watchtower

Nightwing's eyes widened beneath his mask as he heard these last few words, his mouth opening slightly. Realizing he had lost his composure, the dark-clad hero quickly covered up the gesture with his trademark scowl. Cyborg's comment about Beast Boy felt like a blow to the gut for the young vigilante, and he soon found himself unable to maintain eye contact with the prisoner. Although neither hero spoke for several minutes, the tension in the air thickened considerably, making it difficult for either of them to resume the conversation.

Realizing the betrayal of his own thoughts, the former boy wonder shook his head to clear away any doubts before addressing his friend. "The Beast Boy we knew is long dead! You're only deluding yourself by projecting your regret onto someone else!"

"You're the one who's lost it, man!" Cyborg shot back with a grim expression, his eyes moving towards the shackles on his wrists. "Talking to this Beast Boy made me remember the kind of person I really am… The kind of people we used to be."

"Just because he reminds you of our friend, doesn't mean he is!" the masked hero warned, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I talked to him, and it felt just like old times…" the half-robot replied, the tiniest of smiles gracing his bloodied features.

Dick Grayson grit his teeth in response to the statement. "You and I both know that isn't true, especially since you already acknowledged that this Beast Boy was from the Justice League's dimension. Seeing what he did to you is proof that he's too dangerous to be kept alive!"

The mechanical hero looked slightly taken aback by the harshness of the statement, but after a moment he could only nod his head with a sense of disgrace. To his one-man audience it looked as though he had repented, but this couldn't have been any farther from the truth. Cyborg wasn't ashamed by his own beliefs anymore, instead he pitied how low his friends had fallen in the last few years. Ever since the death of their shape-shifting friend, the Titans had slowly fallen into darkness one at a time.

It was painful to be thinking clearly for the first time in years, because now he could see the inevitable truth they had all cast aside in exchange for power. Even so, the things he had said to Supergirl back in Titans Tower were still true. Even if his superiors executed him as a traitor, Cyborg knew that he would leave behind no regrets. He had come to his senses for the first time since the murder of Lex Luthor at the hands of their leader, and despite the consequences of his actions, he actually felt happy with himself.

The robotic man's smile unnerved Nightwing, causing the latter to fire up. "What's so funny?"

"Strange how you sounded just like Superman a second ago." answered the prisoner.

"Just what are you suggesting? You know that everything I said was the truth!" Dick retaliated.

"Which is exactly why I want you to shut up and hear what I have to say! Why don't you try and remember what it was like to think before the Justice Lords started doing it for you?" Cyborg screamed, his brutal words silencing the other man. He took a deep breath, waiting to see if his friend would interrupt before speaking again. "From what we know, the Justice League's world and ours used to be a lot alike before Lex Luthor became president?"

The former boy wonder frowned. "After that happened, we evolved in order to survive."

"You're missing the point…" Cyborg hissed through grit teeth, silently biting back the pain as his wounds began to reopen.

"Then please enlighten me." Dick Grayson challenged his friend's statement, a note of impatience hidden beneath.

His former teammate only frowned. "The fact is that the major differences between our world and the Justice League's world started happening after BB was executed by the government. Because of that, the Beast Boy who came from that world is exactly the same as the friend we lost."

Nightwing took a step away as if he were afraid standing too close to his friend would place him at risk of catching a deadly virus. He couldn't find a way to fully deny the sense of logic that he just been shoved into his face, but his pride prevented him from fully believing what he was hearing. Had he been a lesser man, the young vigilante would have bolted from the room and slammed the door behind him to block out the conflicting knowledge.

Cyborg's poisoned expression tightened into a bittersweet grin. "Don't you get it yet? We're the ones who changed! Beast Boy hasn't, which is why he reminded me of the friend we lost. He's exactly the same, and because of that he made me remember the way things are supposed to be."

"I… We… That's not… …" Every time he tried to make formulate a counter argument, he found himself unable to form the right words.

"Wake up and look around… The human race is terrified of us! Police are killing people in the street for committing misdemeanors!" the half-robot bellowed, his screams reverberating off of the thick metal walls of his cell. "Is this the way things are supposed to be?"

"Shut up!" Nightwing seethed dangerously, his face contorting in a strange mix of rage and confusion. As he attempted to come up with a way to answer his friend, the young vigilante felt his body quivering violently, his hands clenching into fists.

The half-robot ignored the display and continued speaking. "Raven turned herself into a monster to cope with the pain of losing Beast Boy! I was arrested and nearly killed just for saving my best friend from that crazy bitch, Supergirl! And you… You turned the woman you loved into a robot because she stood up for her own beliefs!"

"I said… SHUT UP!" Nightwing's cool exterior evaporated in an instant, his right hand tearing a birdarang from his utility belt and hurling it at the mechanical hero with as much force as he could muster.

The projectile stuck into the wall less than an inch from Cyborg's face, causing him to close his eyes for fear of being slashed by the flying object. Craning his neck around, he was relieved to find that the object had missed, but the fact that Nightwing had reacted so coldly only served to further his own point. Realizing he hadn't breathed in the last ten seconds, the robotic man exhaled deeply to release the tension in his body, his eyes settling on his friend with a fearsome intensity that would have made anyone uncomfortable.

"I would seem you've forgotten your place." Nightwing turned his back to the robotic man, doing his best to keep his hands from trembling as he headed for the door.

"Nice shot! The fact that you attacked a defenseless man, let alone one of your best friends, only proves my point." the prisoner's bruised face displayed a sense of sorrow for his teammate. "You knew that everything I said was true… That's why you lashed out, and that's also why that last shot missed!"

The dark-clad vigilante hesitated for a moment before turning to face his friend once more. "What makes you think that?"

"Because I know how good you are with those toys, and the hero I knew would never have missed an unmoving target at point-blank range." The half-robot hero replied almost mockingly.

"Don't give me any of that! Every situation you described earlier is much more complicated than you seem willing to believe." he answered coolly.

Cyborg spat on the ground as he felt the shackles tightening on his wrist. "I know that's a load of crap, and so do you!"

The former boy wonder looked away. "I was forced to cooperate in order to save Starfire's life. She was blacklisted by the Superman for speaking out against his policies and charged with treason against the Justice Lords. Do you have any idea what they would have done to her if I hadn't agreed to the procedure?"

"That computer chip inside her head made her into a robot! I would know!" the imprisoned hero remarked, his arms tugging at his bindings. "The Dick Grayson I knew back when we were kids would have fought tooth and nail to save her, even if it meant the ultimate sacrifice. You wouldn't have been alone either! I would have done anything to help!"

"And where would we be then?" the vigilante stepped forward challengingly. "We would have been executed, and all of us would be dead. I chose the lesser of two evils… I chose to save her life and place my services in the hands of the greater good! As harsh as it may seem, the Justice Lords made a world without crime!"

"I used to think the same thing until Beast Boy helped me see the truth." The mechanized hero added with a new sense of respect for the green shape shifter.

"Sometimes doing the right thing isn't always easy. You of all people should understand this."

Cyborg could only sigh in response to this, having grown tired of the conversation at this point. Whether it was a combination of Nightwing's stubbornness or simply a result of Superman's powerful indoctrination, the robotic hero realized that until his friend was personally willing to accept the truth, he might as well be arguing with a wall. Perhaps the decision concerning Starfire's fate had scarred him to the point where the man that had once led the Teen Titans had died long ago.

Regardless of the reason it seemed as though Dick Grayson was no longer willing to accept his own responsibility for what had happened. Cyborg had poked several holes in the logic of absolute justice preached by the Justice Lords, and still Nightwing refused to see the truth behind this nightmare of a world.

"When we first met, you said that Batman's stubbornness was one of the reasons you left Gotham, but it looks like you're just as bad as he was."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" the former boy wonder hissed dangerously, his shoulders tensing up at the unwanted comparison. "He was a manipulative sneak, and to make it worse he was crazier than you would ever know."

"If he's half as crazy as Superman, than I can see why things didn't turn out so well."

"Nightwing did not even dignify the statement with an answer. "In addition, the old man was also led astray by the Justice League's Batman, and almost ruined everything we worked so hard to build.."

"I take it back… At least he had a shred of common sense and tried to put things right!" the metallic hero shot back. "You're just too damn stubborn to realize that all of us made the wrong choice, and that's the reason why the rest of the world went to Hell! If anything, you're about ten times as stubborn than Batman was!"

Something inside the young vigilante snapped again. "That's enough!"

He raised his right fist, he spun around and planted it into his friend's jaw with a brutal upward motion. The robotic man choked back a cry of pain along with several curse words, his body unable to recoil due to the fact the high-tech binders that chained him to the wall. A loud metallic crunch sounded as the blow struck his face, and the only thing that had stopped Nightwing from breaking the man's face were his robot components.

Dick Grayson recoiled his fist, looking up to see that several of cuts on his friend's face had opened and were now bleeding profusely. He was shocked to see the other man suffering in silence, his fist shaking as he realized what he had just done. Now that his mind had been cleared of the shroud of anger, the vigilante tried to wiped the blood from his hands, but to no avail. The shock seemed to shock him back to reality long enough to make him realize that he had so callously struck an injured man for the second time that evening.

"I regret it… There's no excuse for what I did just now." Nightwing's expression softened as he uttered these words.

When the prisoner did not answer him, Nightwing continued his procession to the exit undisturbed, his right hand quivering again. Despite his normally unshakable demeanor, the conversation had actually taken quite a bit out of him. The young vigilante had come here in an attempt to talk some sense into his friend and possibly formulate a story by which they could acquit him of his treason, but instead all he had done was further.

A tight knot had formed in the boy's stomach during their discussion, but he did his best to ignore it as he shut the door behind him, silently hoping to leave any doubts locked in the room with Cyborg. He would do his best at his friend's hearing to reduce the sentence, but something in the back of his mind told him that Superman would hear none of it if the entire council was involved. Whenever a superhero went rogue, the punishment was usually passed onto the higher ups to decide the penalty, and after hearing Cyborg's testimony, the odds were not looking good.

Dick Grayson's heart sunk as he exited the room, only to be greeted by the cold lifeless eyes of the woman he had once loved. She was quickly shunted aside by J'onn J'onzz, who had also been awaiting his return.

"Would I be correct to assume that you are finished with the prisoner?" interrogated the Martian.

"The appearance of the Justice League's Beast Boy has him acting strange." The younger hero replied tactfully, his eyes migrating towards the floor. "This intruder to our dimension possesses dangerous potential, especially if he could talk someone as loyal as Cyborg into helping him escape us."

The Martian withdrew a small card key from his cloak and slashed it through the slot near the door, activating the electronic lock so that the prisoner could not escape even if he broke free from his binds. He glanced up at the light above the door and waited for it to turn green, the sudden change in color signifying that the security system was armed. Giving the entry a gentle tap, the alien hero placed a hand on his colleague shoulder and guided him back to the hall, Starfire following along behind them.

"I understand that Cyborg is your friend, but you must realize the danger he could pose to us if allowed to roam free." J'onn J'onzz reasoned emotionlessly.

Nightwing nodded his head with a sense of regret. "No matter what the case is, I still plan on speaking on his behalf when the hearing comes up."

The green-skinned alien's expression remained unreadable walked alongside him. "I am certain that Superman will allow you to have your say, but the final decision will be passed down by the council as a whole. I sincerely hope that your conversation with Cyborg has given you a convincing argument for his innocence, because as it stands, I cannot see your friend escaping the ultimate punishment."

The younger hero swallowed the lump that had begun to form in his throat, his face composing itself into an angry scowl. "It's all the fault of that Beast Boy from the Justice League's world!"

"Sentimentality on Cyborg's behalf will not excuse him of these crimes. The fact that he assaulted a Justice Lord, let alone Superman's cousin, can and will not be ignored under any circumstances." The Martian answered in his emotionless drawl.

Nightwing planted his right fist into his left hand. "When our forces on Earth finally capture that little green nuisance, I plan on having some words with him."

"If that was your intention, then I regret to inform that you may not get the chance…"

Dick Grayson froze in his tracks as he heard this, causing the others to do the same. He reached up and seized the alien by the shoulder, forcing him around so that they were both facing each other. "Just what do you mean by that? Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Superman dispatched Major Force to deal with this threat. We both know how dangerous that murderer can be without question, but in this case he was given permission to use deadly force."

J'onn J'onzz responded with an aura of unshakable calm.

The young vigilante hid his surprise behind his even tone "You're plan on killing the Justice League's Beast Boy without even subjecting him to an official interrogation?".

"This decision was handed down from the top and will not be rescinded… The fugitive Beast Boy is to be terminated on sight, and thereby executed without trial."

Despite having wanted to wring the neck of the green changeling after what he had done to Cyborg, the idea of allowing that madman to kill on sight rattled him just as much. Nightwing had seen Major Force fight before, and knew that his radioactive powers were enough to reduce entire houses to ash with a single blast. Even the hardest steel alloys were no match for the sheer destructive force of his highly concentrated energy attacks, meaning that a single hit would mean death for most people.

Dick Grayson glanced over at his companions, giving her a subtle motion. "Go on ahead and prepare the Javelin for immediate takeoff."

"I shall do as commanded." The Tamaranean Princess bowed her head before departing.

Once she was gone, the brooding man couldn't help but ponder some of the things he had been told during the interrogation. The more he considered Cyborg's testimony, the worse he felt, and slowly he began to ponder the possibility that his friends had been right. Realizing the sheer madness of this thought, he quickly pushed it aside in an attempt to stop doubts from forming. Such thoughts were considered treason, and at the moment he was accompanied by the group's resident telepath.

The Martian stopped mid-step and glanced over at him, causing the younger hero's eye to twitch out of sheer nervousness. "So, what do you plan to do now that your friend has only worsened his own situation?"

"I'll testify on his behalf regardless, even if it means taking the case directly to Superman."

"You are free to do as you wish, but do not forget your place when speaking to him." J'onn shook his head like a disapproving father. "If you truly insist on doing this, then I shall try to arrange for a meeting so that you may address the rest of the council concerning this decision."

"I would appreciate it." Nightwing replied with a respectful nod, quickly turning his back on the alien as he followed after Starfire.

Navigating he halls of the metallic behemoth, he quickly found the way to the space station's docking bay where his personal ship was waiting. His transport was a large silver and green shuttle with a much larger and more streamline design than a normal Javelin-class cruiser. Having been specially built for his personal use, it was naturally equipped with better weapons and a special stealth system originally designed by Batman back when he had been among the Justice Lords. There were several heroes and staff members present, but Nightwing ignored them and continued to his ship.

Starfire floated over to his side as two attendants prepared the gates. "All is ready, my lord."

"Good…" he answered despondently, subconsciously working to avoid her empty gaze.

The brainwashed Tamaranean followed along in his wake, her head bowed slightly and her hands gently resting against each other. "If I may be so bold as to ask, what shall be our next course of action? After our recent encounter with Cyborg, surely you would wish to join the other units in searching for that escaped prisoner back on Earth?"

"I'm honestly not sure what to do next…" He motioned to the pilots to start the spacecraft before speaking again. "Regardless of what the others think, my position prevents them from exerting any direct control over me. I will do whatever I please."

As the two former Titans boarded the ship, the automatic doors slammed shut behind him with a metallic clash. As Nightwing sat in the commander's chair behind the two pilots, he began wondering what he would do if they actually did execute his friend. Thoughts of the Justice League's Beast Boy also floated through his mind, creating a strange mix of anger and regret at having not saved his friend all those years ago. Realizing the possibility of his own thoughts betraying him, he shoved these feelings to the back of mind.

The one thing that he was certain of was that it would be best for everyone if they continued to hide this information from Raven. Living in her temple she rarely left unless given direct orders by the Justice Lords themselves. Useful as she was to the cause, they all acknowledged her mental instability as a major liability. If the blue-clad witch ever caught wind of their inter-dimensional visitor, who knew what she would do or how her tortured mind would react.

Earth 1 – Titans Tower

Raven had returned home to Jump City after failing to find anyone that could help her aboard the Watchtower. Despite the interesting insight that he had provided in response to her predicament, meeting the Question had only made her feel ever more futile than ever before. The idea that billions of dimensions existed and Beast Boy could have been sent to any one of them was something that she would have preferred not to know. Instead, the concept made her infinitely more frustrated, which had resulted in her damaging several spell books.

The young sorceress understood anger all too well, having the blood of a demon running through her veins. She hadn't felt this upset in years ever since Trigon was destroyed, yet the emotion that plagued her now was not rage. Having resigned herself to her dark existence at a young age, Raven had long become numb to misery and misfortune, accepting such trivial things as a part of life. This philosophy also served to keep her powers in check, preventing her from accidentally causing accidents, and at times she even reveled in her own despair as a way of coping with it.

Now for the first time in her life, Raven was completely overwhelmed with feelings of sorrow and remorse, and all of it was caused by the disappearance of her best friend. The years she had spent in solitude following the splitting of the Teen Titans were some of the worst in her life, and only through studying alongside Doctor Fate was she able to cope with it. Now the team had come back together years later, only for her to feel the pain of loss.

She had found happiness again after so long of being alone, and now one of her friends was missing again with no sign of coming back. To make matters worse, she had been indirectly responsible for his disappearance. Her destroyed barrier had dropped Beast Boy into the energy vortex produced by Control Freak's machine, and as a result she silently cursed herself for allowing him to fall. Before her thoughts could delve deeper into depression, the doors to the living room opened, revealing the large form of the team's technology expert.

Cyborg flicked on the light switch, his human eye widening in surprise as he realized there was someone sitting on the couch. Even without magical powers he could still feel a cold sense of dread coming from the blue-haired girl. With an air of caution, the half-robot crossed the room and planted himself on the couch directly across from her. Slumping backwards like a defeated dog, Raven's eyes settled on her new visitor for a moment before wandering off towards the ceiling.

Realizing that she wasn't going to talk to him, the metallic hero chose to force the subject. "So Rae, how you holding up?"

She looked back at him with a hollow expression in response to his tactlessness, the gesture making him flinch. "What do you think?" The blue-clad demoness replied, her tone of voice coming out much colder than intended.

Her half-metal friend rubbed the back of head with an apologetic frown. "That bad huh?"

"It's hopeless." Raven blurted out suddenly, quietly refusing to meet his eyes.

"BB may have taken a tumble into a wormhole, but that doesn't mean he's dead! You just spent the better part of last few days looking for some hocus pocus in those books at Doc Fate's tower, and now you're saying it's hopeless."

She gave him a genuinely sad expression, the gesture seemingly out of place on her normally calm visage. "I've asked everyone in the Justice League that might be able to help, and so far we're not any closer than when we started."

"If there's something we've learned after all this time, it's that nothing is impossible." The robotic hero reassured her.

"I never said it was impossible, but I've been researching tracking spells along with the laws of temporal displacement. It's abundantly clear that no conventional magic can summon someone back if that person has been lost through space in time, especially if we have no knowledge of where they are." She paused solemnly.

"So it's possible but highly unlikely… For us that's nothing new." He dismissed with a shrug. "I know you liked the whole goth thing when were kids, but I also remember how we never gave up no matter how bad things looked."

Raven's emotionless expression wavered for a second as she continued her explanation. "The theory of universal existence claims that the new dimensions are made through human decisions. Because of this, there would be an infinite number of dimensions to explore, and our Beast Boy could have been sent to any one of them. From what the Question told me…"

"You actually went to visit that crackpot?" Cyborg exclaimed, giving his forehead a heavy handed slap. "No wonder you're so messed up! I would be too if I listened to everything that came out of that guy's invisible mouth!"

"This isn't funny!" Raven screamed, her unbridled frustration reducing a wooden chair across the room to a shower of splinters.

He bolted upright, gently waving his hands in front of him. "I can see why you're upset, but maybe it would be a good idea if you took it down a notch so we could talk about this without any more explosions."

Realizing her own lack of control, the sorceress took a deep breath, looked embarrassed as she gathered herself again. "I didn't want to believe it first either, but according to Doctor Fate, the phenomenon that the Question described is actually a true principle of the space-time continuum. The truth of the matter is, my magic may not be powerful enough for Beast Boy to find a way out of this situation. This is of course assuming that he's still alive…"

"Well of course he's still alive!" the metallic hero smiled proudly as he dismissed the notion. "BB's a real fighter, and I guarantee that no matter where he ended up, he's trying to find a way back home."

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up in case something bad happened to him." Raven replied with a downcast expression. "I know what it feels like to have hope and then lose it all when the truth of the situation finally hits. That's how I lived my entire life…"

"You're not fooling anyone!" Cyborg cut her off, his expression becoming deathly serious. "The reason you're so upset about this developments is because you care more about Beast Boy than all of us put together."

Raven looked started by this sudden accusation. "Huntress said something like that to me when we met." She murmured more to herself than anyone else. "I just don't know…"

"I'm no expert about this kind of thing, but either way it must be pretty obvious if a head case like her can say it too."

Raven considered him for a moment as her mind began playing back memories of her times with Beast Boy. From the very beginning he had wanted nothing more than to be her friend and make her laugh, even though she constantly spurned his attempts at doing both. It hadn't always been intentional, but looking back she had been pretty harsh towards him when they were kids, despite the fact that he always had her back no matter what.

Back then she found it laughable that anyone would ever be attracted to a deplorable half-demon like her, but looking back she couldn't help but wonder if he ever did feel that way towards her. Her thoughts returned to the moment when she first saw him again after so many years of separation, and she found herself smiling at how much he had grown while still being her same goofy friend on the inside.

"Maybe you guys were right about me…" she mused out loud, her expression softened as she considered the prospect.

The robotic hero let out a small chuckle. "Now, how many years did it take you to figure out what the rest of us had been guessing at for years?"

"He never gave up on me, no matter what I said or did." She muttered to herself, seemingly ignoring her friend's previous rambling. After several seconds of complete silence, a sense of life returned to her eyes, and everything seemed to become clear. "He always made me feel like I could rely on him for anything… Which is exactly why I shouldn't give up on him either!"

"Booyah! That's the crazy demon we all know and love!" Cyborg shouted, his upbeat demeanor instantly returning the room's tense atmosphere to normal.

Despite the glimmer of hope that had permeated the room, Raven still appeared as ragged as ever. She hadn't slept in several days aside from passing out for short spans of time while reading the books in Doctor Fate's library. As a result her neat blue hair had become tangled and unkempt and bags had formed under her eyes. Nevertheless, she seemed much less depressed than before, as though a shroud of hopelessness and despair had been lifted.

The smile on her lips wavered, her usual façade quickly returning. She stood up and stepped around the table so that she was standing closer to her friend. "I still don't know if anyone will be able to find him, but until we succeed I plan to do everything in my power to help no matter what the cost."

Cyborg placed hand on her shoulder, causing her to look him in the eye. "Ever since the Secret Society of Villains broke up, business has been a lot slower around the Watchtower that usual. J'onn has half the league's members out searching for clues, and even the Doom Patrol knows he's missing."

She let the tension in her shoulders drain away and gave him a brisk nod. "What about Nightwing and Starfire? Have they found anything that might prove useful yet?"

"He went back to Gotham City to see if Batman could help, but since the old man was too busy to get involved, Dick took Batgirl with him to shake down some of the crooks in Gotham in case someone had any idea where Control Freak might have run off to. They think that the couch potato might be able to help, considering it was his technology that sent BB away."

"Did they find anything significant to the case, or is Nightwing acting on a whim?"

The metallic hero shrugged. "Last I heard they found some evidence connecting the case to some whacked out crime ring in Central City. A few hours ago they grabbed Starfire for backup and ran off to investigate the situation."

Raven took a second to think about her own options, her mind quickly piecing together a plan of her own. While the mystic arts seemed unable to provide her with an answer to their problems, she had begun to consider other options. Despite her predisposition to the dark arts, she had yet to research the more heinous side of magic in search of a way to save Beast Boy. In addition to that, their friends had also brought technology into consideration, something she had yet to properly account for.

With a wave of her hand, the young sorceress conjured a portal of swirling black energy, immediately catching her friend's attention. "Going somewhere, Rae?" He cocked an eyebrow, looking genuinely curious.

"Sitting around here isn't going to solve anything. We have to explore every option, no matter how obscure." She replied hastily, stepping through the shadows mid-sentence.

Cyborg took a step towards the vortex as if beckoning to her. "What do you plan on doing?"

He received no answer as the portal closed around her, leaving him standing alone in the center of the living room. Sighing in frustration at being left out of the loop by his friends, he decided it was better to head back to the Watchtower for the time being. Crossing the room, he turned off the lights and typed in a sequence of numbers in the panel on the wall, causing the building's security grid to reactivate upon his departure. The metallic hero reached up to his earpiece before pressing the button to contact the dispatchers aboard the space station.

"This is the Watchtower, how may we be of assistance." The Martian's deep tone issued from the speaker of the communicator.

"This is Cyborg, requesting immediate transport from Titans Tower." He responded.

Mr. Terrific's voice answered from the other end. "Roger that, we hear you loud and cloud! We'll beam you up momentarily!"

"That would be appreciated…" Seconds later a strange light engulfed the robotic hero's body, and then he was gone.

Earth 1 – Central City

It had been a long day searching for clues in Central City, and so far Nightwing's team hadn't found much concerning Control Freak's whereabouts. Accompanied by Starfire and Batgirl, the trio had spent several hours searching every shadow business, criminal hangout, and suspicious institution that they could find. They had only recently stopped to rest at a local coffee shop, although their superhero costumes attracted unwanted attention from the local clientele. Of course due to the Justice League's worldwide fame, no one asked questions.

Nevertheless it had been an interesting day, having spent it with both his ex-girlfriend and his current girlfriend, and surprisingly enough the pair seemed to get along relatively well. Starfire's slightly naïve yet upbeat nature meshed well with Barbara's clever wit and cynical humor, and to top it off it seemed as though neither girl felt awkward about spending time with the other. Now seated in the small restaurant, they spoke casually to one another.

Twiddling his thumbs idly, the alien princess finally worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been sitting on the edge of her mouth for days. "So from what I have been told, you were romantically involved with Nightwing before our friends came together and formed the Teen Titans?" she hoped to be as casual as possible.

"We were pretty young, and it was just a case of puppy love…" Barbara said with a wink, her comment earning a small grunt from her ex-boyfriend.

Starfire wore an innocently confused expression, although a look of dawning realization came to her as she remembered her relationship with Beast Boy's pet, Silky. "Oh, so this would mean that you only loved him the same way that humans would show affection for a pet?"

"What!" Batgirl snorted loudly, causing her to spit a mouthful of coffee back into the cup. "Wait a minute…"

The Tamaranean glanced between her two teammates with a self-conscious look. "You have my apologies… Did I say something wrong?"

"Don't worry about it." Dick Grayson looked up from his own drink with an amused look before turning to his ex-girlfriend. "Starfire's been living on Earth for years now, but she's still not that good when it comes time to human expressions."

"All right, I guess that explains a lot." Wiping her mouth with a napkin, Barbara Gordon set down the styrofoam container in her hand and nudged it away to avoid drinking her own backwash. Once the mess had been cleaned up, she turned to the alien girl and smiled. "What I meant was that we dated for a while, but it didn't get too serious."

Starfire ran a finger through her long red hair, gently returning the other girl's gesture. "I did not mean to pry, although it is interesting to know that Nightwing has had more than one friend who is a girl." She responded nervously.

Barbara spared a sideways glance at her ex-boyfriend. "She meant to say girlfriend, right?"

"Yup!" Dick Grayson answered her question before shifting his focus back to the alien princess. "Batgirl and I dated for well over a year, but with all the costumed crime-fighting chewing up our time and the fact that we had different opinions of Batman's methods…"

"We just grew apart." Batgirl finished for him, gently folding her hands in her lap as she spoke. "Shortly after we split up, he left Gotham City to do some training and eventually met you and the other Titans. We met again after your team disbanded, although since the breakup had been a little awkward, neither of us really talked about it much after the fact."

The orange-skinned girl had been listening intently up until this point, although she couldn't help but ask more questions. "And you are both still friends, despite what happened in the past?"

Her teammates glanced at each other before Nightwing answered. "We spent years watching each other's backs while cleaning up the streets of Gotham. Maybe things were a little weird for a while, but would take a lot more than the loss of a relationship to make us hate each other."

"We never stopped being friends." Barbara agreed with an air of confidence. "I can't say he took it well when I agreed to stay with Bruce, although there were some…" she paused for a moment and seemed to look away. "Extenuating circumstances."

"If you are uncomfortable with this, I shall not force you to continue." Starfire folded her hands almost eagerly, although her tone was as polite as ever. "Once again, I am sorry."

Batgirl shook her head and seemed almost endeared by the other girl's sincerity. "Don't apologize…"

An awkward silence fell as the couple realized they had delved too far into Barbara's personal life. Nightwing new for a fact that his she had been romantically involved with Batman for a while, but due to the caped crusader's loner personality, it had been doomed to fail from the very beginning. It usually took a lot to upset someone as stubborn and strong-willed as her, but ever since the failed relationship with Bruce, Barbara had been keen to avoid the subject and often swept it aside whenever someone mentioned it. He often guessed that she was bitter about the way things turned out, but having known Batman longer than her, he was not surprised by it.

Seeing that the others had stopped talking, Dick Grayson drained the small dregs of coffee left in his cup and relaxed. It took a minute or two of silence for the tension to subside, but the girls quickly returned to their previous topic. After several more minutes passed, Nightwing glanced at the clock hanging from the wall of the shop, now realizing exactly how long they had wasted lounging around.

He stood up, immediately gaining the attention of his teammates. "All right… We've spent enough time resting. Considering how little we know so far, I think it's high time we get back to the mission at hand."

"I suppose that would be wisest." Starfire chimed in, cementing her decision with a stern nod. "The possibility exists that Beast Boy could be in danger, and yet we have found no clues as to how we may enact a rescue."

As if on cue, the ground beneath their feet shook violently, followed by an Earth-shattering explosion. Several customers panicked as the noise intensified, one woman dropped her cup on the ground as decorations began falling off the shop's walls. Batgirl and Starfire stood up and bolted to the windows just in time to see an explosion in the distance, their eyes widening in shock. Once the thrill subsided, the three heroes shared a collective stare as they realized the irony of what had just happened, although Barbara was the first to recover.

"Are you psychic or something?" she mused out loud, gently cocking an eyebrow.

"This isn't time for jokes." Nightwing shot back, looking equally as concerned. He threw the door open and began running towards the source of the smoke, the others following his lead into the streets. "If there's a major crisis going on outside, then there's a good chance that some of this town's resident super villains are involved."

Starfire's feet left the ground as she took flight, although she chose to remain close to her teammates rather than flying ahead. "As heroes it is our responsibility to address the threat, but how can we be certain that this has anything to do with our own predicament?"

"We got some solid leads on this Control Freak guy from a reliable source back home." Barbara Gordon explained.

Nightwing nodded to affirm her claim. "The two of us subjected an old friend to some interrogations in the back room of he Iceberg Lounge. Assuming that the Penguin was telling us the truth, the Central City rogues might know where Control Freak is holding up."

The trio rounded another street, the two humans showing surprising agility even when compared to their alien companion. They soon found themselves standing outside of a laboratory located in the heart of the city, fire shooting out of the windows as the inside of the building was destroyed. The main entry to the building shot open as the billowing clouds of smoke poured through the newly opened exit, closely followed by several scientists and other workers as they ran to the safety of the streets.

"How did this happen?" Dick Grayson called out to the fleeing crowd, only for his question to be subsequently ignored by the panicked citizens.

"Look up there!" Batgirl added nervously, pointing up to the top of the building.

Starfire searched the surroundings for the source of the trouble, finding an answer relatively quickly as her eyes moved towards the roof. Standing atop the building was a man wearing a white jump suit with and red-tinted goggles. An orange strap stretched across the front of his uniform, holding a weapon holster over the left side of his upper chest, and a matching belt orange and gray belt covered his waist area. Using the flamethrower in his hand, the villain continued to set more portions of the building ablaze, occasionally reaching into his utility belt to lob explosives into the streets.

Rather than wait for her cue, the Tamaranean Princess took the element of surprised and slammed into the fiery villain with all of her might, sending him flying off of the roof with minimal effort. Seeing that their target was vulnerable, Batgirl reacted by tossing a device at their falling enemy, her weapon releasing thick steel cords that wrapped around their prey and bound his limbs upon impact. This action rendered the flailing man's arms and legs immobile as he finally crashed down onto the cold, dark asphalt.

His attacker immediately rejoined her friends in the street, although it was the former Titan leader who pulled the newly captured villain to off of the roads and onto a sidewalk. They surrounded him from all sides in case the enemy attempted to escape, ignoring his offensive mix of cursing and outrage. Nightwing kicked him onto his back so that the pyromaniac was looking up at them before making a positive identification.

"Heat Wave… What a pleasant surprise." The male vigilante commented with a note of sarcasm.

"I was expecting the Flash to zoom on in and save the day. Looks like the Justice League's real heroes were too busy saving the universe to show up." The restrained villain replied.

Barbara looked insulted as she addressed the captive. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"That's not important…" Nightwing ignored her question as he stepped forward to perform his own interrogation.

Grabbing a fistful of the prisoner's shirt and wrenching him upwards into a standing position. Although the man did not seem nervous, a simple glare from the young vigilante was enough to make him reconsider the situation. The hero's eyes narrow dangerously in a similar manner to Batman, although he would never admit where he had copied his intimidation techniques. The gesture caused a small drop of sweat to trickle from beneath the other man's goggles and down his exposed cheek.

"You're going to explain what's going on here!" he scowled angrily, not leaving him any choice in the matter. When the target proved unresponsive to his commands, Dick Grayson gave the villain an aggressive shake. "That wasn't a request!"

Although his eyes were invisible beneath his tinted eyewear, the corners of his mouth curled into an unpleasant leer. "Let me guess? This is the part where I'm supposed to get scared and spill my guts, right?"

"Talk, or we'll make you regret it!" the young vigilante added through grit teeth.

The scene grew still as quiet as Nightwing realized he had yet to master his mentor's type of interrogation tactics. His grim expression slipped for a fraction of a second, but the gesture did not go unnoticed by the rogue, earning a small look of satisfaction from him. Before he could try to question the villain again, one of his own teammates slammed into him from the side, tackling the young vigilante to the ground while causing him to close his grip on their prisoner. They rolled twice before he realized that Barbara was the one who had hit him.

"What was that for?" he screamed, gently rubbing the side of his head in agony.

She opened her mouth to answer, but soon found it unnecessary as a pair of bladed boomerangs soared inches over their heads. The heroes quickly regrouped as another man emerged from the ruined laboratory. Standing in front of them was a middle-aged man wearing a blue coat and white belt, a long white scarf hung loosely from his neck, and a blue hat with a small arched symbol rested on top of his head. It was clear from the projectiles in his hands that he had been the one to attack them.

Batgirl vaguely recognized him from a profile she had read while looking through the league's files on super villains. "Captain Boomerang!" she exclaimed.

"Aye, good to see that my reputation precedes me!" the blue-clad villain replied in his trademark Australian accent.

While they prepared to assess the new threat, a white colored spray engulfed Starfire's entire body, encasing her in a pillar of solid ice. Dick and Barbara turned just in time to see their teammate preserved like a frog in the ice, her eyes wide in shock and her mouth hanging open as she remained trapped in the pose. Using this distraction, the boomerang themed villain tossed another slew of boomerangs at his captured teammate, cutting the cables that bound Heat Wave in place.

A man wearing a blue and white parka and blue goggles stepped out from behind her frozen form, a freeze gun gripped tightly in his right hand. He shot another blast at Batman's former sidekicks, both the agile back flipped several times to avoid getting caught in the icy assault, both realizing that the enemy had prepared for their interference. Due to the Justice League uniting costumed crime-fighters under the banner, super villains had begun working more closely to avoid being overwhelmed by the well-equipped heroes.

"Glad to see you made it in time for a change, Captain Cold." Captain Boomerang greeted.

"Looks like we've got them outnumbered." The ice-themed villain replied as he picked up the flamethrower on the ground, tossing it towards his colleague.

Heat Wave caught the weapon in mid-air and shot a blast at the heroes, only for them to dodge again. Despite the fact that he had failed to burn either of them, the villain looked much more confident than he had before. "Looks like you kids were way in over you heads without even knowing it!"

The projectile-themed villain withdrew another pair of boomerangs from the inside of his coat. "All right boys… Let'em have it!" he screamed, causing the other two rogues to raise their elemental weapons and open fire.

The villain closed in around their prey, forcing them on the defensive with a barrage of freeze blasts, fire, and exploding projectiles. Standing back to back in the center of the streets, they alternated between attacking and dodging, intercepting Captain Boomerang's bladed weapons with their own volley of birdarangs and batarangs. The battle almost seemed like a dance as the former partners helped pulled each other out of the way, both leaping and diving away from attacks while shouting warnings to the others.

Having learned how to fight from Batman, both heroes had practiced together as teenagers, and even after all these years of absence their teamwork was undeniably impressive. Although they had yet to be struck yet, Nightwing was silently impressed by the planning that the villains had done, although his concern for his frozen girlfriend was making it hard to completely focus on the battle at hand.

"We need to free Starfire!" he screamed in an attempt to be heard over the ruckus.

"That would certainly even the odds…" Barbara replied, barely moving her head in time to avoid another of her enemy's projectiles.

Nightwing made a pointing gesture with his hands. "Just hurry up and follow my lead…"

Realizing that their enemies favored long-distance fighting, Dick Grayson shot his grappling hook at the nearest streetlight and pulled himself into the air, withdrawing a birdarang from his belt and disarming Captain Boomerang with a well place throw. The projectile struck his hand, causing him to drop his own weapon as Nightwing swung towards him. Adjusting the angle of his swing, the bird-themed hero kicked the villain in the face.

"Why don't you take a chill like your friend?" Captain Cold shot a blast at the male vigilante, only to miss.

While Nightwing distracted the first two villains, Batgirl was forced to deal with Heat Wave's powerful flamethrowers. Walls of flame spewed from the end of his heat blaster, but the girl's cape seemed fire resistant, and her movements we too quick for him to follow. At the same time she was finding it difficult to catch her adversary off balance due to the nature of his technology, the feat only made more difficult by the fact that they were facing off against an arsonist who relished starting fires and could care less about public safety.

Realizing that the pyromaniac's blasts were getting closer with each second Barbara quickly plotted her course. A mighty gout of flame followed her step, but she had planned for this. Using her own grappling hook to escape the inferno, she pulled herself to safety at the last second, causing the blast to hit the icy pillar where Starfire was imprisoned instead. It only took a moment for the villain to realize what he had done, the heat of his blast weakening the frosty spray that covered the frozen hero.

Starfire's body began glowing with a green shimmer as beams of energy exploded from her eyes and hands, causing the ice around her to shatter like glass as she freed herself. She lashed out like an angry snake towards the nearest villain. Heat Wave ignore Batgirl and turned his attention toward the alien, but she charged through his fiery blast and nailed him in the stomach with a bare-handed punch, sending her opponent crashing through the window of the nearby building.

Captain Boomerang's eyes widening in shock as he saw the body through the wall. "What in blazes was that?"

"The sound of your plan failing!" Nightwing bantered as he delivered a strong left hook to the older man's jaw.

"You broke my nose!" his opponent stumbled backwards, leaving a stream of blood on the street.

"This battle has finally come to an end!" Starfire screamed, as she dove from the sky towards the remaining villains.

She slammed down onto the asphalt with excessive force, instantly creating a small crater and a web of cracks where they had been standing seconds before. Even Nightwing found her display impressive. While he had known her for several years now, their romantic moments often made him forget how immensely powerful she could be when provoked into fighting at full strength. The blow to the Earth caused the ground to shake, causing the villains to lose their footing.

Batgirl disarmed the ice-themed villain with a batarang, cocking an eyebrow as she bore down on the hooded man. "You should give up before this gets out of hand."

"I beg to differ!" Captain Cold drew out his spare freeze ray and pulled the trigger.

The female vigilante realized she had been caught off guard and quickly braced herself, but when the icy blasts never came, she spared a glance at her enemy. Not only had the weapon in his hand refused to fire, but it was also coated in a faint pick glow. Barbara dove away as the weapon exploded in the face of its owner, having been jammed by whatever force had created the strange glow to begin with.

Several yards away, a pair of boomerangs that had been thrown at Nightwing gave off the same pink glow before splintering apart in mid-air, allowing the hero to knock him out with a well-placed karate chop. Once all of the villains were unconscious, the costumed trio frisked the villains to make certain that they didn't have any more weapon before cuffing their respective opponents. Starfire carried two of them over her shoulders as she walked across the street, laying them next to the ring leader that Nightwing had caught.

"It appears this struggle was most successful." The Tamaranean Princess added cheerfully.

Nightwing grimaced as he stared down at the evildoers before turning to his teammates for answers. "I'm not trying to be a downer here, but am I the only one who noticed that weird glow from earlier?"

"Unfortunately I do not remember seeing such a thing." His girlfriend replied earnestly.

"Come to think to think of it, I did see something like that." Barbara Gordon walked up from behind them, gently clutching her injured back with a gloved hand. After straightening herself out, the female vigilante quickly elaborated. "At first I figured it was just a trick of the light, although since you saw it too, I guess we can't both be nuts."

All three teammates stood quietly as they pondered the situation, but their respective trains of thought were interrupted by a shadowy silhouetted emerging from the nearest alley. The lone male of the group reached for his utility belt in response to the possible danger while his girlfriend ignited her hands, both digits casting a green glow indicative of her star bolts. The alien princess stepped forward challengingly, her eyes also taking on the same frightening quality as she rounded on the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Barbara moved to stand beside Starfire, both girls looking equally aggressive.

"The glow you saw was a manifestation of my powers." The figure answered, her soft tones indicating that it was a woman underneath the cloak.

While the revelation did little to calm the nerves of the two girls, Nightwing seemed much less apprehensive than before. He held out an arm in front of them, silently analyzing the girl through the eyeholes of his hero mask. "Show us your face…" he replied suddenly.

The newcomer shifted uneasily before answering. "As you wish…"

Reaching up, the woman removed the hood of her cloak, revealing a pale feminine face, pink tinted eyes, and matching hair styled into two separate points that curved outwards like a pair of horns. Although she appeared older than the last time they had seen her, the face was one that Dick and Starfire had seen several times in the past, both as a friend and as an enemy. Barbara remained lost due to her lack of familiarity with the woman, although the looks worn by her teammates made it clear that they knew her.

"Been a while, hasn't it Jinx?" Nightwing greeted with a suspicious look. "What really makes me curious is why you came here?"

The pink-haired woman sighed with a neutral expression before running a pale hand through her unnaturally colored hair. "Let's just say that it's a long story…"

Note to Readers: Sorry for any errors in spelling or grammar, or typos, but I usually write chapters for this story late at night or when I'm tired. As for the story… For the Earth 2 characters I tried to show the conflicted nature that exists within the tyrants who were once great heroes, particularly Nightwing. Also I gave Raven a partial confession of her personal feelings in this chapter. I know it this chapter might not have been my best work, but maybe I'll be able to get back into the swing of the story in future chapters.

Phew… It took me a while to write this chapter once I decided to try my hand at writing this story again. I was writing a story based on Marvel comics stories for a while, which was a nice break from DC. Hope the next update to this story won't take so long to get to. If anyone who started reading this still cares, please drop me a word so I know that not everyone left. I have a few ideas right now for future chapters, but I still welcome more story ideas, reviews, and comments, because it may help motivate me to possibly finish this story.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Tough Luck! **

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos. This story is made for fun, not profit.

Earth 1- Central City

The proper authorities had arrested the Central City Rogues shortly after their defeat, taking time to investigate the building. Half the department had turned up to secure the surrounding area, placing yellow tape around to prevent anyone but authorized law enforcement from entering the crime scene. As much as they had protested the treatment, the four heroes were refused entry and the officers left them to their own devices while they awaited the official reports from police stationed around the area.

Nightwing stood alongside the trio of girls, each waiting in silence while sparing the occasional glance towards the ruined laboratory for signs of what was going on. Barbara and Starfire occasionally exchanged whispers, although neither seemed willing to say anything out loud for fear of angering their mutual friend. They both understood how annoyed Dick was at being treated like an average civilian, although understandably enough, not everyone in the criminal justice system was willing to trust vigilantes.

He let out a grunt in response to this, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by the others. He shrugged off their puzzled expression, responding with a quick shake of the head. "The Flash tells me that the cops around here are usually pretty cooperative with superheroes. Doesn't look that way to me?"

"Well Central City was the place where he earned his reputation." Batgirl replied with a tiny shrug. "The locals might not be as accommodating to newcomers, especially since they just met us less than an hour ago. I mean, what were you expecting? A parade?"

Starfire tugged at the female vigilante's outfit to get her attention. "Why would we be expecting a parade? Is there some sort of festival occurring tonight of which I am unaware?"

Barbara let out a pleasant laugh before shaking her head. "That was just an expression. The point is that we can't expect the police to treat us like celebrities just because we joined up with the Justice League."

"I guess you're right." Nightwing added in with a sigh. "I mean, it took Batman a years before Commissioner Gordon finally saw him as more than a costumed nut posing unnecessary risks to public safety. Considering how close you were to the situation, I'm sure you of all people could vouch for that, am I right?"

"Lets not go giving away all the surprises." The police commissioner's daughter gave her former partner a disapproving frown before punching him playfully on the shoulder. "If you share my secrets, and I just might slip up one night and tell yours too."

"Might I ask what she is talking about?" Starfire piped up with a confused expression.

The two vigilantes exchanged sideways glances at each other, although it was Batgirl who answered for him. "Pretty much everyone has secrets they want to keep, especially masked heroes like us." She paused with a thoughtful expression. "Let's just say that it was an inside joke for those of us who spent years prowling the streets of Gotham."

The alien girl considered her for a moment before nodding once. "If this happens to be the case, then I shall not push the issue."

An awkward silence fell as the team relaxed, each sparing glances at the crime scene from their post while they waited maddeningly for the police to grant them passage. Although she had remained silent while the others spoke amongst each other, Jinx felt her curiosity peak. The former villain hadn't expected to see two of her old allies while guarding over Central City, but this chance encounter raised several questions and she was dying to know the answers. Noticing that the others had also grown quiet, she cleared her throat louder than was necessary in order to get their attention. Seizing the opportunity to alleviate some of the boredom, they quickly turned their heads to face her.

"Is there something you want to say?" Nightwing acknowledged her courteously.

The pink-haired girl nodded. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but something tells me that you guys didn't come here just to deal with the Central City rabble."

"It wasn't on our to-do list, although some leads we picked up in Gotham indicate that there might be some connection between our case and that group of freaks we chased off." Batgirl shrugged as she glanced between the former Titans. "We really don't know yet…"

"That still doesn't answer my question." Jinx seemed to ignore the statement, her gaze shifting towards the others instead. Being more familiar with her former allies, she was more comfortable addressing them than she was the female bat. "I haven't been in the loop for a while, so you're going to have to tell me what's going on."

"While I wish it was, you were right to assume that this isn't a social visit." The former boy wonder sighed wearily as he ran a hand through his long black hair.

Starfire frowned deeply at this reminder. "The truth is, we were on a mission to stop the Control Freak in Jump City. Although we had managed to defeat him, he had already opened a strange portal-like anomaly." She paused as if pained by the memory, her bright green eyes moving towards the pavement near her feet.

Dick Grayson placed a hand on the alien girl's shoulder to comfort her. "As it turns out, Beast Boy was caught up in the burst, but since Control Freak hadn't finished preparing his matter transporter, the vortex could have taken him anywhere in the space-time continuum. We've been looking for clues that might help us find our friend and bring him back home."

"I see…" Jinz considered the idea for a moment as she remembered the close bond the Teen Titans had shared as children. Her own time among the honorary members of the group had been rather short in comparison to the core group and even the Titans East.

Although she remembered what it had been like the night she met Kid Flash, and how he had worked so hard to show her what it was like to do the right thing. She also thought of her time spent with her evil friends back in the early days of training. Despite the group having been composed entirely of young super villains from Brother Blood's Academy, several of her fellow Hive Students had treated her like a real friend. Although thinking back, it felt as if the speedster who changed her life had become her first real friend.

"You okay, Jinx?" Nightwing responded suddenly, his words jarring her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, just fine…" she answered in a soft mutter, her eyes refocusing on the others. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your friend, but that still leaves me with some questions. To start with, I also don't remember you telling me who the new recruit is."

"Oh yeah, come to think of it, we never did introduce you two." The masked man looked between them with a bemused expression. "To put it simply, she's an old friend of mine."

Barbara who had been sitting on the nearby park bench stood up, extending her hand to the pink-haired woman to which she accepted. "I'm Batgirl, one of Nightwing's old partners from Gotham back when he was Robin. Although, it's a little surprising that the you haven't heard of me, considering all the publicity Batman gets as one of the top guys in the Justice League."

Jinx released the other girl's hand with a casual smile. "I figured you looked familiar, although the costume should have tipped me off." She gestured towards the yellow bat symbol visible on the front of Barbara's costume before stroking the back of her own head. "Sorry about that…"

"It's sad, but a lot of people don't remember the names of the sidekicks. That was one of the reasons that Nightwing flew the coop years ago, if you know what I mean?" The masked girl boasted with a playful wink.

"I think she gets it already." Dick Grayson added bitterly. After taking a deep breath, he quickly picked up the conversation as if he hadn't heard the last comment, this time addressing the pink-haired woman. "So, what else did you want to ask us?"

"It's clear you guys came here to search for clues, but what I really want to know is what would make you think that the jerks in this city would be able to help you find out where Beast Boy is?"

The male vigilante silently thought of how he was going to approach the topic, especially since Jinx was probably more knowledgeable about the local crime that took place in Central City, and he didn't want to insult her assuming she wasn't aware of the illegal technology business that they had learned about. Of course on the other hand it would be embarrassing if Penguin's lead turned out to be false, but there really wasn't any other way of addressing the issue without tackling it head-on.

Nightwing awkwardly ran a hand through his long black hair, before speaking again. "My teammates and I have been searching for anything that might help us, but I figured it would be more productive to find out more about the technology that caused Beast Boy's disappearance."

"Care to enlighten me?" Jinx raised an eyebrow with renewed interest.

It was Barbara who answered this time. "While back in Gotham City, Nightwing and I dredged through some underworld connections and found out that this Control Freak guy had recently done business with the Central City Rogues. The informant is pretty reliable based on past experience, and he claims that the villains in this area have been selling stolen technology."

"Surely you have also heard of these rumors while fighting crime in this place." Starfire folded her hands together pleadingly as she turned to face the pink-haired woman. "Please tell us that you can be of some assistance!"

"If you've heard anything, we would really appreciate it." Nightwing added hopefully.

The former villain wracked her brain in an attempt to think of anything that might be relevant to her allies, although nothing specific came to mind. After contemplating the case for a moment or two, she exhaled a defeated sigh. "I didn't know that Control Freak was involved, but word on the streets says the local bad guys have been selling stolen technology."

Batgirl looked sideways at the crime scene and back at her teammates. "That certainly explains why those jerks were raiding the laboratory earlier."

Jinx nodded in agreement. "Since they were captured by the authorities, you guys might get the chance to interrogate them once the police grant you clearance."

"It might take some time before the cops finish up here." Nightwing also spared a glance at the investigation going on across the street. His gaze settled on the fourth member of their party, who tensed up slightly in response to his scrutiny. "While we're sitting around waiting for a chance to start our own investigation, why don't you go on and tell us what you're doing here?"

The pink-haired woman blushed slightly at the question, subconsciously rubbing the back of her neck with her right hand. "You might say that it's just a small favor to an old friend."

Nightwing turned to his alien girlfriend, who appeared to be thinking the exact same thing, resulting in a mutual understanding of the situation. Barbara Gordon noticed the unspoken communication going on between her teammates, but chose to ignore it in the hopes that they would explain everything to her. Since the other three heroes present were all former members of the Teen Titans, the female bat was largely unaware of the events that had taken place while Dick Grayson was fighting crime with his new friends in Jump City.

Starfire grinned in an endearing manner. "So you are doing this for the Flash, then?"

"Hmmm… I guess you could say that." Jinx began with an embittered smile. "All those years ago back when he was Kid Flash, he made me realize just how pathetic my life really was. All I did back then was lounge around with the Hive Five and commit crimes for the thrill of it. I really didn't have much of a purpose, or even any real goals."

"Things certainly turned out for the best… Years later he became a founding member of the Justice League, and you became a hero. I gotta admit that none of the other Titans saw that coming, especially with his goofy attitude and you being a former super-villain." The former boy wonder replied with a friendly expression.

"What can I say? The Flash helped me turn my life around, so the least I can do as keep an eye on his home while he's off saving the world." she explained with a satisfied shrug. "Can't say it's a glorious lifestyle fighting bad guys in the streets as a vigilante, but at least I can make a difference. I didn't take this job for the cash rewards, that's for sure."

Batgirl looked slightly surprised by this statement. "You mean you don't have any income?"

Jinx gave her an incredulous frown before returning to her original demeanor. "Most of you guys in the Justice League have secret identities and day jobs, plus whatever benefits the organization pays out to its members. A freelancer like me just has to get by with what little they have."

"Then why not join the Justice League like the rest of us!" Starfire suggested with an excitable squeal. "We are always looking for new heroes to help out on board the Watchtower, and it would be a great privilege to serve alongside you once more."

"Flash approached me twice with the same offer. Once back when it was just the seven founding members, and two more times when the Justice League began that giant expansion following the Thanagarian Invasion. Needless to say I refused him every time."

The alien girl looked downtrodden by this new piece of information, but quickly recovered. "So does this mean that you prefer to remain alone in this city instead of with your friends?"

"Don't take it personally, but joining up with another group just wouldn't fit my style. I never went past being an honorary Titan back in the old days, and now I've gotten used to living a free life and doing whatever I want." Jinx explained with a relish. "No one tells me what to do, I can come and go as I please… Maybe you guys don't mind it, but taking orders from the league doesn't appeal much to a free spirit like me."

Nightwing prepared to add something in, but as he thought about what she had said, he found himself relating to the situation. After leaving Gotham City following his falling out with Batman, the former boy wonder had spent a long time alone. It was only that fateful night he stumbled into Jump City that reminded him how important it was to have teammates who you could rely on, and shortly afterwards his new friends founded the original Teen Titans.

Seeing that his girlfriend was going to say something else, the young vigilante extended a hand to silence her and turned his attention back to their friend. "Well, if you're happy with how things are going, then we won't criticize. There are time's in life that it's better to be alone and do things the way you want to."

"Yeah, that about sums it up." The pink-haired girl replied with a coy smile.

They fell silent again, but the quiet only lasted briefly this time. The sound of an approaching police officer refocused their attention towards the source of the footsteps. Looking up to see who was coming, they could see that he was a strong lean man wearing a light tan trench coat and matching bowler hat. In comparison to overweight detectives like Gotham City's Harvey Bullock, this man was well built and clearly in the prime of his law enforcement career. The newcomer reached into the folds of his jacket, withdrawing a clipboard and police badge to signify his authority.

"You have our thanks for rounding up those criminals earlier, but perhaps we should get down to business." He greeted in a strict tone, tilting his hat in a gentlemanly manner in response to the three female heroes. "Lieutenant Will Rogers… Central City Police Department."

Nightwing waved off the man's pleasantries, his impatience beginning to surface after hours of sitting around with his team. "We've been waiting out here for a while now… Have your men finished writing the official report yet?"

"We promise that a copy of the statement will be sent to the Justice League as soon as possible."

"I take it this means you don't plan on cooperating with us any further?" the dark-haired vigilante raised an eyebrow accusingly. "My team received some tips that the Central City Rogues were stealing advanced technology from around the world and selling it on the black market. We were wondering if you could tell us anything else?"

"More importantly, does tonight's theft relate to these activities?" Barbara clarified for him.

Detective Rogers thumbed through the papers on his clipboard, his eyes scanning the documents with computer-like efficiency. After a minute or two of gathering the facts together, he addressed the heroes again. "Although you stopped the rogues tonight, several prototypes of potentially harmful resources were found missing. Due to confidentiality we are unable to reveal what exactly it was, but…"

"Pardon my rudeness!" Starfire interrupted with an apologetic expression. "If we defeated these villains, than how they have succeeded in stealing whatever this was?"

"You know, the alien girl brings up a pretty good point." Batgirl pressed the issue again.

The officer found it difficult to give a definitive answer, although he quickly decided to share the general theory developed by his colleagues. "Due to the lack of solid evidence, we believe that Mirror Master may have been involved."

"With his powers, it wouldn't be too hard to slip in and out of the laboratory through the reflective surfaces." Jinx stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment before a look of dawning realization lit up her pale features. "I'll bet that the creep nabbed everything in sight and escaped while the others only hung around to provide a distraction."

Their police department contact quickly nodded to confirm the answer. "As of now, this is the general consensus among our team of investigators."

"You don't suppose we could question the villains you have in custody?" Nightwing asked.

"I'll contact my superiors and see if they will allow it…" the detective replied.

After a second of rummaging through his pocket, the police investigator produced his phone and quietly moved away from his guests in an attempt to create some distance between them. He dialed in a series of numbers and waited for the police chief to answer, essentially leaving them alone once again. As the detective spoke on the phone several meters away, the four heroes did not bother to interrupt for fear it would hurt their chances of getting cooperation. Exchanging a quick series of glances, they promptly resumed their own conversation.

Jinx turned towards her fellow heroes with an air of uncertainty. "So, do you guys figure this is worth all the effort?"

"We need to find Beast Boy, and since we have no idea where he is, it's important that we explore every possible lead to our best ability." The male vigilante replied.

"Yes, for surely those evil doers we defeated much know something that can be of help!" his girlfriend chimed in loudly.

Barbara Gordon fought the urge to roll her eyes. "If you ask me, those jerks we trashed were a few watts short of a light bulb. I say the best option would be for us to search the city's underworld and find whoever's in charge of this crime ring. When it comes time to this sort of thing, it's more important to search for the king rather than attack the pawns."

"But dealing with the pawns first makes it easier for us to trap the king." Countered Nightwing.

"You know, I think she actually has a point." The pink-haired woman added hastily. "I know this city's crime better than any of you guys, and the reason that the black marketers never get caught is because they hide well and move their businesses whenever the police receive a useful tip."

The Tamaranean Princess frowned. "So you mean to say that we have no hope of finding them?"

"Once words gets out that the authorities caught some of the villains on their payroll, the remaining villains are probably going to pack up and leave." Jinx reiterated.

Batgirl let out an exasperated sigh, the day's less-than-leisurely festivities finally taking their toll on her. "Either way it's still up to Nightwing to decide what we're doing next."

The three girls turned their focus to the masked vigilante standing across from them. As the former leader of the Teen Titans, Dick Grayson was used to making the big decisions that would determine the actions of his subordinates. As a newly appointed member of the Justice League, this role was somewhat diminished, but to someone as stubbornly independent as he was, it made little difference.

Nightwing acknowledged their group's newest member with the tiniest of nods. "All right, then… We'll go along with your plan for now, seeing how you fight crime in this city on a regular basis and know more about how things work around here. If you can give me a good place to start looking for clues, the rest of us can handle it from there."

"I think you guys had better let me tag along." She smiled at the given praise, gently resting one hand on her hip.

"You plan to come with us, too? What a splendid idea!" Starfire exclaimed happily, her gaze shifting to their leader. "Surely I hope that you would not object?"

Dick Grayson seemingly ignored his girlfriend's display, and extended a hand to the former super villain. "Good to have you back on the team!"

"Just tell the Flash to visit me once and awhile, and we'll call it square." She shook his hand with a playful wink. "And who knows? This might turn out to be fun!"

Earth 2 – ?

Oracle remained seated in her wheelchair as she continued to type away at her computer, having been forced to copy the rebellions files while erasing the originals from their mainframe computer. They expected it was only a matter of time before the Justice Lords used their hostages to find out where the rebellion's bases were located and was now attempting to stop them from discovering anything else. Since Batman had ordered that they evacuate the locations, they were more concerned about the enemy hacking the computers and stealing important data.

Barbara Gordon took a few moments to relax as she removed her glasses, hastily wiping them off with a cloth. The handicapped hero had spent hours stuck in the same room, but now that the job was finished she was able to take a small breather. Ever since that crippling accident on the battlefield resulted in the loss of her mobility, she had accepted her role as the chief webmaster for the resistance. Not a day went by when she didn't miss fighting alongside her fellow heroes, but Bruce had somehow convinced her that she was more useful to them cooped up here.

Dwelling in the thoughts of her past mistakes and regrets, the retired vigilante did not hear the footsteps coming from the hallway. The sound of the automatic door caused her to jump as Batman seemingly melted out of the darkness, his expression deadpan and mysterious as ever. Upon seeing her former mentor, the former Batgirl chose not to say anything, instead acknowledging his presence with a bittersweet expression.

The brooding hero stepped past her to look at the monitor before addressing the situation. "Have you finished taking down the network?"

"Sheesh, nice to see you too… After leaving me alone in this bunker and replacing me with that Kathleen chick, you could at least say hello." She answered with a note of irritation.

"We are currently in the middle of an emergency, so I would greatly appreciate it if you would explain the situation." The Dark Knight rounded on her with a deathly serious expression, although his tone of voice remained balanced and even.

Oracle understood the severity the situation and decided not to push him further. "I worked nonstop to take down and recreate the network on a different server, but in any case we shouldn't have to worry about the Justice Lords hacking the system."

Although Batman did not compliment her work, she took his lack of criticism or concern as a silent form of flattery. He quickly went over the data on the room's smaller monitors before giving her a silent nod to show his approval. Having known Barbara Gordon since she was a kid, the caped vigilante was more than aware of her wide array of skills, and couldn't think of anyone better to act as his personal webmaster.

After some consideration, he sat down beside her. "While performing your search of all available databases, did you discover what happened to Green Arrow's team following their arrest?"

"According to what little I was able to discover while hacking the Justice Lord's mainframe, it doesn't look like they have been sentenced yet. All of them are currently being held in the lowest levels of the Watchtower and plans are being made to transfer them to Titans Prison at the earliest possible convenience."

Batman quickly began thinking of ways they could address the situation, although from the look on her face he knew there was more the report. "Is there something else going on that we should consider?"

"While conducting my search of the enemy's network, I also discovered that Victor Stone, the warden of Titans Prison, was recently incarcerated for treason."

Her mentor looked puzzled by this sudden piece of unexpected information, although he quickly worked to conceal it. "He was made warden of the world's most exemplary prison as a reward for his loyalty to the Justice Lords. It doesn't make much sense that they would turn on him unless something big happened."

"I was just about to get to that." Barbara opened a copy of the document on the main monitor before continuing. "According to some decrypted files I managed to pull from their computer system, it appears we have an inter-dimensional visitor that was responsible for this incident."

Bruce Wayne placed his hand on the mouse and began scrolling down the screen, his eyes scanning every inch of the document that she had opened. His eyes widened behind the cowl as he caught sight of a face they hadn't seen in years. Garfield Logan's mugshot had been added to the report with a short explanation of what had transpired during that night at the penitentiary. Although he hid it well, Batman was just as surprised as everyone else who had seen this.

Upon seeing his concerned expression, Barbara decided to elaborate. "I was confused at first too, but it looks like this guy came here from the Justice League's Earth. It looks to me like things got messy when he showed up at the prison."

"These things tend to happen when people from that world visit ours. It took a conversation with myself to realize that what were doing was nothing short of tyranny."

"Some of us were smart enough to see the truth from the very beginning, or have you forgotten?" Oracle grimaced as if she had tasted something particularly revolting.

"Just leave it be…" the stubborn hero warned his former sidekick.

At this she quickly became serious again. "I imagine that Cyborg felt conflicted about allowing his best friend to be executed, even if the man in question was from another timeline."

The brooding vigilante did not answer her question, and instead stood rooted to the spot with an unreadable expression. His mind returned to the day they had first encountered the Justice League. Despite the fact that their alternate selves had conflicting beliefs and morals, it became clear that both groups were very much the same. This was especially true for the Justice League's Flash, who's presence had reminded him so much of the friend they had lost when President Luthor and his government began executing superheroes during the great purge.

Barbara quickly surmised what was going on in his head, although she also knew better than to express empathy towards someone as hard-shelled as her mentor. Instead she chose to continue the previous conversation without directly mentioning the topic of their deceased comrades.

"According to the remainder of the report, the warden actually fought off Supergirl while Beast Boy made his escape." She explained with a note of empathy, looking sincerely concerned by the situation.

"If the Justice Lords address Cyborg's treason the same way they reacted to my own, then he's almost guaranteed to receive death penalty, or something much worse if the Kryptonian has his way. The fact that Cyborg defied direct orders from the top and raised a hand against Superman's cousin doesn't help his situation."

"Even if the others want to persecute him for this, I can't imagine Dick would just sit by and allow this to happen. Whether or not he joined the Justice Lords, that stubborn pain wouldn't let them terminate his friends without a fair trial." She explained carefully.

Batman shook his head solemnly. "He may have taken my spot on the ruling council, but Nightwing still doesn't possess the ability to overrule the group's majority decision if it does come down to a vote. I doubt they plan on pardoning Cyborg's crimes based on the fact that he's a friend of the council's least popular representative."

"No matter how screwed up this world is, I suppose that still makes sense." She answered.

"Right now we should be more worried about saving lives that can still be saved."

The female webmaster straightened her glasses in a scholarly manner. "What do you mean?"

Batman stood again, his towering form casting a shadow in the room's flickering screens. "Green Arrow's team is currently being held aboard the Watch Tower and is beyond our reach for now, but until they are transferred it would be productive for us to search for the Justice League's Beast Boy."

"With the loss of so many heroes, our forces are already spread thin enough." She tried her best to hide her deep concerns, but it was becoming harder. "We've been outmatched from the beginning and by factoring in the capture of Captain Marvel and Green Arrow, it's safe to say we're losing this war. Are you sure expending resources to find Beast Boy is worth the risk?"

He paused briefly before nodding again. "I believe he could be of help to the cause."

Oracle raised an eyebrow apprehensively. "So you're willing to take a gamble on this one man?"

"I'm willing to save an innocent man who should never have been involved in this world's affairs to begin with. Whether or not he chooses to help us is not my choice to make." Batman explained his reasoning with a note of finality, making it clear the topic was not up for debate.

The redheaded network moderator quickly copied the files on their cross-dimensional visitor, making certain to add some mission specifications. After reading it once over, she quickly saved her work and began entering the new product into their new mainframe computer. Her mentor leaned in again to view the finished materials for himself before giving his approval.

"Send this bulletin to all major resistance members stationed in the United States so that they know to be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

"I feel compelled to mention that Superman hired Major Force to find the escaped Beast Boy. If any of our forces run into him during the search, there's bound to be some explosion, if you know what I mean." She sounded almost frightened by the red hero's reputation.

The Dark Knight shrugged off her warning with a cool response. "We'll manage…"

"The guy packs the force of a nuclear weapon, and there's not too many people who would stand a chance if he really wanted to kill them." She retaliated with a sense of dread.

"If they're sending someone like him to do the job, then Beast Boy must've been targeted for immediate execution. Major Force isn't the type who's known for bringing in his victims alive, assuming there's anything left to bring." Batman placed a hand to his chin as he reassessed the situation. "It sounds as if Superman isn't willing to take any chances with this one, which means that he also understands how much damage this man could cause to this corrupted system."

Oracle looked amused at the thought. "That does seem to be what he's thinking. I doubt anyone would take this as a compliment, but so far it looks like you and Kryptonian think alike.

"People from the Justice League's Earth once helped me realize how much we had ruined our own world. I doubt Superman was willing to take the risk that this guy would do the same for other heroes, especially after Cyborg's uncharacteristic behavior at the prison."

"If nuke-boy finds our inter-dimensional visitor first, we might not get the chance to save him." She responded with note of pessimism.

"Then we'll have to make sure this doesn't happen… Until further notice this is a top priority mission." Batman replied with an ironclad gaze, his expression warning her not to delay the task any further. "We need to get the word out as soon as possible so our units can begin the search."

"It's already done!" Barbara pressed the button on her keyboard to distribute the message. After a moment of waiting for the documents to finish loading, she frowned in the direction of her former mentor.

"Very well…" Batman hesitated as he prepared to leave the room, although despite his lack of words she knew he was having some doubts. "I have to return to the field and meet up with the remaining resistance leaders at the secret base."

"All right, then. Just make sure you contact me with the situation as soon as possible. I really hope you know what you're doing." She answered in a quiet whisper, the comment causing him to tense up.

Without acknowledging her again, he stepped into the darkness and disappeared. Once the doors had closed behind him, the handicapped woman let out an exasperated sigh. He had been adamant about the issue surrounding Beast Boy, but she could tell that the rebellion's fabled leader was beginning to lose faith in the resistance. Bruce Wayne was the type to never give up, although he was by no means a fool when it came time to knowing when he was outmatched. Of course, no matter what the circumstances she knew he would fight until he was dead, and most of their subordinates were willing to as well.

Inclining her head with a small sigh, she eased her stress by rubbing her temples. Realizing the severity of their situation, she wiped the sweat from her brow and through willpower alone she forcibly returned to monitoring the network. Despite her dispute with Batman's orders, Barbara knew that it was not in her position to argue against it. She returned to work, her eyes searching through a list of superheroes loyal to the resistance.

"I can't believe this happened…" she muttered solemnly. As Oracle searched out the members that had been captured by Nightwing's group, she began removing their names from the active roster, each click prompting that familiar feeling of hopelessness to rise in her chest.

After several minutes of searching, a strange idea popped into her head. Dick Grayson had once led a team of young superheroes known as the Teen Titans. While the four remaining founders were currently aligned with the Justice Lords, several members of the group had joined the resistance movement under Batman. The thought quickly occurred to her that they could use this to their advantage, and she quickly set to work.

After several long moments of waiting, the face of Green Arrow's former sidekick flickered on Oracle's main monitor. "You rang?" he greeted with a thorny disposition.

"Although I posted a bulletin for all members of the rebellion, I believed it would be best for me to tell you myself." Barbara rationalized in a strict, businesslike tone.

The archer's face seemed to come closer the screen, inferring that he had shifted the position of his communicator. "I haven't checked the notice yet, so start talking."

"A hero from the Justice League's dimension has appeared in our world and is currently on the run from the Justice Lords. This is a mission assigned from the boss… We would like you to locate and bring this person to the secret bunker as soon as possible." She explained.

"Wait a minute… You're saying that someone else managed to come here from that world?"

The redhead laced her fingers together to temper her irritation. "I wouldn't lie about something so crucial, especially when the orders came down from Batman himself."

"Why did you single me out all of a sudden? Is this payback for mouthing off about last week's mission schedule, or do you just get some kind of enjoyment from giving me the crappy jobs."

"I won't even dignify the with an answer." Oracle responded with a note of indifference, her expression changing to reveal her genuine concern. "The truth is that our visitor is none other than Beast Boy, who we both know was a member of your team in the past."

"Even if this guy comes from an alternate timeline, I can't ignore the idea that you want me to search for a dead man. Something tells me that I'm not the only one who feels this way. Leave it to Batman to pick me for this assignment."

"This was my call, not his!" She cut through his babble like a knife. "Because you were once on the same time as the target, I'm placing you in charge of organizing the search team. You can pick anyone you want from the active roster, but due to the large amount of missions we have going on, the choices for your troops might be limited."

Speedy exhaled deeply, his expression dropping. "This is bound to cause a big stink, considering that the remaining four founding Titans are currently employed by the enemy. What makes you think that green boy is gonna trust us when his buddies are all on the opposite side."

"It's much more complicated than that." Barbara Gordon began. "He was first discovered by law enforcement and taken to Titans Prison. According to our resources, Supergirl was sent to kill him on behalf of her cousin, but Cyborg stepped in to save his life. It's safe to assume that Beast Boy knows what's going on."

"It's good to know that Cyborg had enough decency in him to save his best friend, but I guess that makes my life a lot easier." The red-clad bowman ran a hand through his hair with a weary groan. "Beast Boy's a shape-shifter… Assuming we don't know where greenie ended up after he escaped from Psycho-girl, how on Earth do you expect me to find him?"

"He was last scene in Jump City, but I think it's safe to assume that he's still somewhere in the United States… I strongly urge you begin the search as soon as possible. If Major Force catches up to him first, there might not be enough of Beast Boy to fit in a match box."

Speedy was noticeably surprised by this revelation, but his expression twisted into an unusual smile as he formulated a plan. "Thanks for the info, boss lady!"

The former Batgirl rested her hand on the side of her face and leaned in. "Sheesh… I've never seen a man so happy about placing his neck on the line. I assume you have some kind of plan."

"Lucky for you I know the right guys for this job. So just sit back and leave it to me."

"Just don't forget to report back as soon as possible." She replied hastily.

Before anything else could be said, Speedy cut off their communications, leaving her alone in the room once more. She wondered what the red-clad archer was planning to do next, but for the time being all she could do was sit back and hope that everything turned out for the best. After years of experiencing defeat, it was about time that they received a break from the constant stream of misfortune. Hopefully things would finally begin to turn in their favor.

Earth 2- Palace of the Lords

Nightwing grumbled to himself in hushed whispers as he wandered the halls of the lord's main base of operations. Having grown up as the adopted son of Bruce Wayne, he had become accustomed to a certain level of grandeur, but the palace constructed by their leader took this to an entirely different level. With plush red carpets, diamond chandeliers, rare works of art, and golden sculptures decorating the rooms, it was simply overkill.

Several servants and government officials passed him in the hallway, each looking away as if afraid of make eye contact with the young vigilante. Dick Grayson wasn't always fond of the fear that his presence instilled in other people, although he had long come to accept it as just another part of being one of the Justice Lords. Keeping the peace wasn't always an easy job, but someone had to do it. Of course he didn't really have the luxury to worry himself over such heedless trivialities.

At the moment it was not the foppish grandeur, but rather the reason he had been summoned to the castle that bothered him. Nightwing had been hoping to join the search for the Justice League's Beast Boy in the hopes that he could deal with the situation personally, but he soon found that this was no longer an option. J'onn J'onnz contacted him with direct orders from Superman to report to the castle for a meeting of the top brass, placing emphasis on the fact that this was not a request. Needless to say he had no choice in the matter.

"We have almost reached your destination." Starfire replied robotically, her lifeless green eyes gravitating towards the door up ahead.

Dick Grayson looked up from his angry trance to see the large door leading into the meeting room. The ornate entry was made out of expensive hardwood from the rainforest with several ornate designs and a large "S" inscribed in the center of each. On both sides of the door were statues of Superman carved out of solid gold, the words "absolute justice" printed in large letters on the bases of both statues. This fancy display made Nightwing a little sick to his stomach, but he quickly put the thoughts from his mind.

The Tamaranean Princess placed a hand over her heart and bowed once before gesturing towards the double doors. "Please continue on without me, for I am not allowed past this point."

Her input was largely unnecessary as he was already aware of the limitation placed on lower ranking heroes. After dismissing her with a motion of his hand, he continued through the mahogany doors and into the room. His attention moved towards the banners lining the room, each of which was emblazoned with the crest of their organization. Large windows lined the back of the room facing the palace gardens, although the miraculous view was lost on the people seated at the large table in center of the room.

Much like he rest of the castle's décor, the table looked like an expensive piece of art. Seven large thrones surrounded the circular table at equal intervals, although six of those seat were already occupied by the remaining Justice Lords. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, J'onn J'onnz, Hawk Girl, and Supergirl sat in their respective seats, their stone cold gazes settling on Nightwing with a sense of condescension. The former boy wonder ignored the silent scrutiny and sat down, his own expression matching those he had received from the others.

"Now that the last of our number has finally chosen to honor the rest of us with his presence, perhaps we can begin." Superman slammed a gavel down on the table to begin the meeting. "There are many issues for us to address tonight, among them the less than exemplary behavior of Nightwing's inner circle."

Dick Grayson pounded his fist on the table to get their attention. "Are you implying that I can't control my own subordinates?"

"Raven attempted to attack the other members of your team after losing control of her demonic powers. You will forgive the rest of us if we find this to be disconcerting." Green Lantern interjected.

"Can't even control your own minions… How disappointing." Supergirl added nastily.

"You asked me to pick heroes capable of addressing the threat posed by Batman's rebels, so regardless of the risks I decided to include Raven. Dangerous as she can be, it's possible that we wouldn't have been able to arrest Captain Marvel without her assistance." Nightwing countered.

Wonder Woman folded her arms with a disapproving look. "After the incident with Cyborg at Titans Tower, we are beginning to have doubts. Perhaps appointing you to replace Batman on the council was not the best option."

Shayera Hol nodded grimly to signify her agreement with the others. "Plus your robot friend let a member of the Justice League twist his views just like their Batman did to ours. This alternate Beast Boy must be found and punished for his attempts to corrupt the minds of our own soldiers."

"And he's not the only one." John Stewart rounded on the young vigilante. "As much as I hate to admit it, Cyborg was gullible enough to let that green nuisance talk him into aiding his escape, therefore he is also guilty of treason against the council."

"Defying orders from the top is one thing, but daring to raise a hand against me is nothing short of unspeakable." Supergirl replied with a nasty sneer.

Although he still felt conflicted about exactly what had happened back at the prison, the wave of verbal attacks made Nightwing's blood boil. His fists shook in rage as he stood up, the bold gesture silencing his fellow heroes momentarily. Realizing that all eyes had settled on him, the young hero took a moment to gather himself, silently stringing words together in his mind so that he did not lose his composure in front of the others.

While his anger had not yet evaporated, he managed to keep his tone even and steady. "I don't see a reason why any of you have the right to criticize my work, considering that Supergirl was the one present when the enemy escaped. I was unaware of what had happened until a short time ago, so don't try and pin this mess on me."

"Why you little bastard!" the female Kryptonian jumped to her feet with a fierce expression, looking as though she would have liked nothing more than to throttle him on the spot.

"I don't need to take this!" Dick snapped, his hand subconsciously reaching for his utility belt.

"That's quite enough… Sit down." Superman raised a hand calmly, causing them to comply without any further argument. Both younger heroes could sense an explosive anger burning in his eyes, his benign gesture only serving as a mask.

Once the others were seated again, J'onn J'onnz shook his head disapprovingly and addressed the group. "As it stands we have currently tasked several heroes with finding and eliminating the Justice League's Beast Boy. I do not believe that he will be a problem for us much longer."

Wonder Woman folded her hands and rested them on the surface of the table. "This still leaves the matter of Cyborg's betrayal. How exactly do we plan to address this situation?" she looked around at the others wishing that someone would make a suggestion.

"He's a member of my division… Let me handle this." Nightwing replied hopefully.

"I disagree…" Green Lantern spoke out. "Had it been any other crime then we would allow you to address his punishment, but the fact that he attacked one of us makes this a personal affront to the council. I believe that because of this, we should assess the situation as a group."

"I second this notion." Superman responded with a resolute expression, his gaze shifting to the former boy wonder. "Cyborg's crime was against the organization as a whole, and considering that he was also one of your best friends, it is also safe to assume that you would not be an appropriate judge for his actions."

Nightwing pitied his friend, but true to his promise he decided to speak out on the robotic hero's behalf. "Cyborg was loyal to the cause until very recently, so why allow this one incident to tarnish such a long career of servitude to the principals of justice."

"Must we simply repeat the offense to you?" The female Kryptonian replied with a smirk.

Wonder Woman inclined her head slightly. "Even you can't deny that your friend's actions were unforgivable. It was blatant treason, and we have rules about this sort of things for a reason."

The mace-wielding Thanagarian also faced him. "Our subjects would see us as weak if let this slide and refused to enforce our own laws, and then chaos would ensue. Is this what you want?"

"Well no… I…" he stammered slightly, his mind racing to find another argument to raise.

"Precisely! As unfortunate as it is, we have no choice but to sentence the criminal to immediate elimination." She ran her tongue over the surface of her lips with a sense of bloodlust, making it clear that she had no real qualms about it. "I see no further reason to deliberate. Such a waste of time would be arguing in circles."

Superman nodded once before bringing the end of his gavel onto the table. "Very well… Shall we put this to a vote."

"What are we, murderers? To kill one of our own because he rescued his best friend?" Dick Grayson shouted. All eyes in the room settled on him again, but the words just seemed to have slipped out and he wondered where they had come from.

"The alternate Beast Boy is not your friend!" Superman's voice rose in anger. "That loathsome creature came from another dimension and twisted Cyborg's mind, but that doesn't excuse the actions that resulted from his appearance."

The louder tone causing a shiver of fear to run down Nightwing's back, an emotion that was not overly familiar to a man of his stature. "You… I… He wasn't…" the masked man sputtered.

Superman glared at him. "I suggest you think before speaking out of turn, or the rest of us might be forced to reconsider the decision to include you among our number."

Sinking back like a defeated dog, he bowed his head in apology. "All right, then…"

Green Lantern glanced across the table with gruff expression. "You have to understand that your friend was a soldier, and in this world we have no room for soldiers who can't obey orders."

The Kryptonian took a moment to let this notion sink in, his mind racing as he reconsidered the options for punishment. Although the Green Lantern had only been speaking out in regards to his past experiences as a Marine, the basic meaning of the words could be exploited in different ways. After a few moments of silence, he thought up an excellent idea that would set a future example for those who would betray them much better than the death penalty.

"I believe I have a solution that can satisfy everyone." Superman announced with a triumphant expression.

"Yeah, we're listening…" Nightwing narrowed his eyes at their leader with an air of suspicion.

Superman stood up from his seat, his impressive stature becoming even more apparent. "Normally I would consider capital punishment for the crime of treason, but since Nightwing seems so determined to save his friend's life, I say we grant his request."

The Amazon Princess raised an eyebrow. "Just what are you implying we do, then?"

"John claims that a soldier must obey the law, so rather than destroy a valued member of our organization, we should make it so that he can never disobey us again." The Kryptonian began with a note of malice hidden behind his noble façade. "Since Mr. Stone is already part robot, we can simply reprogram him to erase his less desirable traits and emotions."

"That is certain more humane than ending his life after years of service." The Martian agreed.

"You can't do this!" Dick Grayson cried out, his fist slamming violently into the surface of the table. "Cyborg always valued emotions because it's what made him human. I won't allow you to do this to him."

"What you will allow or not has nothing to do with the rest of us." Superman countered, his words earning some murmurs of agreement from the others. Slamming down his gavel for a third time, he settled back into his chair. "I say we put this to a vote… While Mr. Grayson and myself have already made our opinions abundantly clear, I would like to ask the rest of you before we make a decision."

"We have to present an example, so as far as I'm concerned, we have no other choice." Wonder Woman added with a resolute expression.

John Stewart copied the gesture. "It's probably for the best, so you have my support as well."

The Martian nodded in agreement. "Indeed… we must reserve peace on this planet, even if it means that some must suffer for their crimes."

"I suppose killing him would've been more traditional, but at least this way we won't have to go through the trouble of finding another prison warden." Replied the female Kryptonian.

Shayera Hol exhaled wearily and shrugged. "You won't receive any arguments from me. The decision was fair to all parties involved, so there's no reason why we should…"

"Fair to everyone except Cyborg!" Nightwing seethed, his voice only kept below a bellow by the presence of his fellow heroes.

Superman seemed to ignore the last comment. "It is decided… Prisoner Victor Stone will be subject to immediate reprogramming after a grace period of twenty-four hours while we search for someone capable of performing the procedure."

The group began muttering amongst themselves, but as Nightwing looked around at his fellow heroes, it felt like he was seeing them properly for the first time in years. His temper flared up again, but the masked hero had trained for years to control his emotions and quickly suppressed the urge to strike out at the others. If he did something so impulsive and stupid in front of them, the chances he would survive were pretty much nonexistent. He felt his fingernails digging into his palms through his gloves, but said nothing to retort.

"You don't have a problem with this, do you?" Their leader turned to the non-super powered member of the group as if daring him to say something.

"Despite my disagreement, the council has agreed to your decision. I accept that my argument could not convince you." Nightwing stood up and grimaced as though he had swallowed poison.

"I'm glad you finally see things our way." Supergirl added with an ironic relish.

He crossed the room and reached the door, pausing at the threshold. "As far as I'm concerned, the rest of you can do whatever you want!"

As the doors closed behind him, the young vigilante swallowed the lump that had begun to form in his throat, quietly muttering to himself. After navigating through several halls, he finally made it back to the exit of the lavish palace. His personal transport was still parked in the docking platform suspended above the large courtyard. The Tamaranean Princess approached him as he entered the launch bay.

"I trust the meeting went well for everyone?" She addressed him with her frivolous formalities.

"I have some business to attend to back at the Watchtower. In the meantime, I want you to call Mr. Terrific and have him send you to my personal headquarters in Gotham City." He ordered her. "I'll take the Javelin into space and return as soon as possible."

"Of course, my lord." Starfire complied without question.

Nightwing entered the ship and took his seat in the cockpit as he watched his bodyguard disappear. Having been brainwashed to obey the Justice Lords, he knew that dragging her along on this mission would be more of a liability than anything else. As he started the ship's engine, Dick Grayson spared one last glance at the ornate dwelling, his eyes sweeping over the row of hero statues decorating the plaza. Having lost one friend to their sort of "reprogramming", the idea of allowing it to happen again made him ill.

As the ship rocketed into the sky, he muttered to himself. "The Justice Lords can do whatever they want… but it won't stop me from doing what I have to…"

Note to Readers: I have a feeling that this wasn't my best work, but it felt better than the last chapter in terms of character moments and story development. I hope anyone reading this story enjoyed this chapter. As usual, I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors or typos, but as always I write most of this story late at night when my focus isn't always the best. Hope it was fine nonetheless.

So, it looks like things are beginning to change. If anyone's confused about Jinx and the Flash, Kid Flash in Teen Titans was Wally West, the same man who they used as the Flash in the DCAU. Crossovers can produce these somewhat odd moments, but I felt compelled to mention this to the readers. Also, if anyone misses Beast Boy and Raven, they will return as the main focus in the next chapter.

If you guys get a chance, please drop a **REVIEW**. I would like to hear what you guys liked or disliked about this chapter, and maybe some ideas for future chapters. This would really help, and I'm open to suggestions.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Searching for Answers**

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or logos. This story is made for pure fun, not profit.

Earth 1- Metropolis

Raven stepped out of a portal as she appeared in the streets of Metropolis, her teleportation spell having worked perfectly. She had been practicing long-range apparition through the use of her demon magic, and had become quite good at appearing wherever she wanted at any given time. Her reason for perfecting this trick was partially due to her dislike of the Justice League's matter transporter, although due to the nature of her superpowers, she was more comfortable using magic to travel than letting someone else play around with her molecules.

Although night had fallen, several people were still wandering the open plaza in the center of the city. Her mystifying entrance caught a few concerned stares from the populace, but due to the constant influx of superheroes and villains visiting the city for whatever reason, most of the residents were no longer surprised by paranormal phenomenon. The stares that came as a result of her appearance were more out of curiosity, as Raven was not a particularly well-known hero in this particular city. The Justice League was a large organization, and her visits to Metropolis had been few and far between.

She honestly didn't blame anyone for their reactions, having grown used to receiving stares due to her pale skin and naturally blue hair. Not to mention that fact that she was only wearing a leotard and cloak on a chilly night. Shrugging off the looks she received, she silently regretted not using a disguise spell to hide her complexion and outlandish hair color.

The young sorceress was to busy to think about such trivialities as she walked through the central square, her eyes darting towards the large tower composed of steel girders resting in the middle of the plaza. Made in honor of the city's champion, a large "S" insignia presiding over the city from atop the five story tall monument.

"Talk about overkill… And the Martian says Beast Boy does too much grandstanding." She muttered with a nostalgic smile, a pang of sadness passing through her stomach.

The Man of Steel's monument had been constructed during his funeral a few years ago when everyone thought he had died. A band of villains consisting of Weather Wizard, Livewire, Metallo, Kalibek, and Toyman had teamed up to wreak vengeance on the Kryptonian, but their disintegrator ray they used on him only sent him several years into the future. He had eventually found a time machine to return home, but only after everyone had mourned the unfortunate hero's false departure. His memorial tower still remained, but now as a symbol of greatness.

Turning away from the monument, she headed down the sidewalk towards the large office building standing across the square. The towering structure was possibly the most famous building in all of Metropolis, not only for the business that took place inside, but also for the amount of times that it had been destroyed and rebuilt. Whether the cause was an alien invasion, rampaging super villains, or simply an explosion from one of the institute's many laboratories, the poor building had certainly seen its share of difficulties.

Although the former controller of the company had vanished along with Darksied during the galactic conqueror's last invasion of Earth, although the large "L" plastered to the building made it clear that it was once his. LexCorp was one of the world's largest corporations, but what interested Raven was not the mystery of its former owner, but the potential of their research.

While she normally had little interest in technology, her failure to find a solution through magic left her with little other option. Two large men wearing dark suits stood on either side of the front entrance, but she seemed unconcerned.

"Hey, you can't just…" One of the men stepped towards her aggressively, his partner reaching for a pistol.

The half-demon girl simply waved her hand, causing the gun in the man's hand to shatter into pieces before he could fire a shot. The other guard prepared to charge her, but Raven reacted before he could even raise a finger. Spinning around in a graceful manner, the young heroine chanted a few words and disappeared with a whirling of her cloak, leaving the two bewildered guards unable to speak. After several minutes of bickering, they chose to ignore the strange encounter and returned to their posts without another word.

Raven had been listened to the scene while floating above, using an invisibility spell to hide her presence. She hadn't expected to run into any trouble, although it was clear from this exchange that LexCorp employees lived up to the ruthlessness of their former boss. Once she was certain they had stopped looking for her, the young sorceress propelled herself higher and higher towards the top floor of building.

"Do they always have to make it this difficult?" she muttered to herself.

Spinning around in mid-air, she searched each window unseen as if looking for one place in particular. Due to the sheer size of the building it took several minutes of darting around from one floor to the next, but the particularly large window on the side of the skyscraper finally yielded the desired results. Although there was nobody present, the lights were already turned on in the room, making it easy for her to recognize where she was.

The demon witch touched her hand to the glass, although the gesture would seem futile to anyone else considering that it was made out of thick safety glass and mot made to open under any circumstances. After taking a deep breath to relax her mind, she created a swirling mass of dark energy on the surface of the barrier and pressed her body into it, seemingly allowing her to slip through the glass. Once inside the building, she stumbled forward clumsily, her hands pressing into the plush carpet as she did a belly flop.

Dusting off her cape, the blue-clad sorceress glanced around at the office. It was stylish without being too fancy with fine red carpeting and matching ceilings, fluorescent lights keeping the room looking as bright as ever. A large mahogany desk stood not far from where she sat holding a simple computer station and some basic office supplies such as a telephone, stapler, and tape dispenser. Overall the room had a pristine feeling to it, despite the dark deals that had occurred within its walls over the years.

The room itself was a large horseshoe shape, the window she had entered through covering the entire back wall, currently giving her a view of the brightly lit city at night. A pair of thick wooden doors sat in the center of the circular end of the room, and the rest of the walls leading from the entry up to the back window appeared to be composed of a massive aquariums holding live sharks and several different kinds of fish.

Raven occupied herself with watching the sea animals for a few seconds, but her thoughts were quickly disturbed by the sound of a doorknob. She stood perfectly still in an attempt to avoid detection, but the woman who had just entered the room dropped the stack of papers she had been clutching to her chest, making it clear that her invisibility spell had worn off following her unwelcome intrusion. The newcomer turned towards the door in an attempt to leave, but the young witch focused her energies, causing the exit to slam shut and seal itself.

To her immense surprise, the woman faced her without fear. "I don't know what you are, but you have guts barging into the office of the most powerful woman in the world."

"I'm currently an active member of the Justice League, and in spite of my intrusion, I only wanted to talk to you in person." Raven explained calmly.

Luthor's former bodyguard still bore a tough disposition as she eyed the hero apprehensively. The young sorceress returned this expression, quietly noting how different her appearance was when compared to the file photo she had seen from several years ago. The woman standing across from her had long ditched the short-skirted chauffeur outfit and black security cap, replacing them with an expensive blue power suit and purple high heel shoes. Her brown hair had grown out, flowing down past her shoulders, giving her a more feminine appearance.

"You must be Mercy Graves, the current president of LexCorp?" the young sorceress greeted

"Yeah, what does the Justice League want with me all of a sudden?" she replied with a hint of annoyance. "They seemed pretty keen on ignoring me once Lex was out of the picture and the company turned over to the board of directors."

"Whether or not you care much for the league isn't my business, nor do I much want to hear your opinion." Raven dismissed the notion coldly, causing the woman to tense up. "I came here to discuss some matters of personal interest, and it would be advisable for you to hear me out."

After a moment or two of awkward silence, Mercy let out an empty chuckle. "Isn't that a bit dark for a superhero. You're not quite what I expected, especially after all those time dealing with boy scouts like Superman and Captain Marvel."

The half-demon girl was well aware of her predisposition to the darkness, although her own response was rather neutral in comparison. " Here I thought you were just a chauffeur."

"After Lex became a super-villain, I was the only one left to hold down the fort. He made me vice president after getting jailed the first time so that the person in line for control of his company would be someone he could trust to give it back." The CEO shrugged with a confident smirk, her expression hardening as she stepped past the intruder, moving closer to the desk in the back of the room. "After he vanished along with Darksied, the board severed all ties with his old business partners. We are no longer involved with his underworld connections, so why would you heroes want to shake me down for answers?"

Raven wasn't certain whether or not she could believe the explanation, although it was hardly relevant to her own visit. "This has nothing to do with Luthor." She assured the woman with a note if irritation. "The Question informed me that your company might have done research on technology that can open rifts in the space time continuum. I was hoping you could shed some light on the subject."

Mercy gently leaned against the edge of her desk, crossing her arms. "I honestly don't see why I should help you, although you certainly have guts to break into my office like this." she smiled with a sense of satisfaction. "Kinda reminds me of something I would've done back in the day."

Eyeing her manicured hands, she remembered the day that she had stolen from Luthor, only to be found and beaten by his bodyguards for the crime. Nevertheless he took her in and made her his new assistant because she had been brave enough to steal from her. Having spent her early life as a thief, she held a sense of respect towards those who had the skills and the nerve to further their own goals, especially in the case of women such as herself.

"So you'll tell me what I want to know?" the young sorceress pressed on. "The sooner you cooperate with me, the sooner I leave this place and hopefully never come back."

Ms. Graves eyed the witch carefully and decided that it wasn't worth the risk of calling security to remove her. Although she hid it well, there was a certain note of desperation buried deep beneath the girl's monotone. In this case she also guessed that whoever the blue-robed figure was, she had a goal, and would not leave empty-handed regardless of the sanctions placed down by the law or even the rules enforced by the Justice League onto its members.

"I don't suppose you plan on allowing me to refuse." A look of amusement graced her features, and she quickly expressed her compliance. "All right, kid… You've got my attention. The sooner you ask you questions, the sooner I can return to my work."

"Was this company ever involved with the research I mentioned earlier?"

The former chauffeur placed a hand on her hip. "I personally decommissioned some of the more dangerous research after being appointed president of this company. However, that kind of research certainly sounds like something that Professor Ivo might've been working on before his projects were decommissioned by the board."

Her unwanted visitor looked irritated for a second, but she quickly hid these feeling behind the emotionless mask she had created over the years. "So, why did you feel the need to cut the funding for this cross-dimensional device? Were you afraid that there wasn't a big enough market for something so dangerous, or was it not befitting of the company's new image?"

"Hardly… LexCorp does business with anyone who's willing to pay." Mercy rubbed her fingers together as if she were demanding payment. "Certain departments within the science division were unnecessary for the running of a successful business empire. Everyone deemed inessential to my company's profits was let go."

The young spell-caster resisted the urge to gag at the display of cooperate greed. "So basically you fired them because they weren't making you any money?"

Luthor's former assistant stiffened up. "Well when you put it that way it sounds pretty bad, but don't forget that I dug this company out of the hole that Lex made getting tossed in jail! Who are you to look down on me?"

"We're getting off the subject, and I don't have time for this!" Raven warned her impatiently.

She took a step towards the other woman, causing her to raise her hands defensively. "Justice League or not, don't go pushing your luck."

Raven exhaled deeply as if gathering her patience. "Assuming you were telling the truth just now, I could assume that your scientists did participate in the experiments involving cross-dimensional technology. Would any of these people be able to provide me with information concerning these projects?"

Mercy Grave considered the gothic hero for a moment as if contemplating her decision. "It's a bit more complicated than that…"

"What would make you say that?" the blue-clad witch cocked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Since this company is no longer affiliated with those scientists, I honestly don't care what happened to them." She began, earning a glare from the female hero. The expression sent a chill down her spine, prompting her to continue for all the good it would do. "The truth is that the only person involved who knew the science behind the machine was Professor Ivo, and he is currently deceased."

Raven's hopes of rescuing her friend had risen and fallen in the span of three seconds, and she found herself acting on instinct. A wave of black energy shot out, causing several of the office supplies on the desk to break as they were afflicted by her demon magic. Mercy Graves fell back with a shocked expression, catching herself by pressing her hands against the floor. She looked rather surprised at being attacked in her own office, but her expression changed to one of annoyance as she hoisted herself into a standing position.

"Get out before I call security!" she pointed to the exit with a stern glare.

The young sorceress looked away in shame, her moment of emotional strife having created an unintended spark or magic energy. "I apologize for the mess…"

She waved her hand, using one of Doctor Fate's spells to return the damaged objects to normal. Instead of a dark aura produced by her own magic, the afflicted objects glowed with a bright yellow light as the pieces sprang to life and began repairing themselves before her very eyes. With a final twist of her wrist, the staplers two broke halves rejoined and hovered back to the place on the desk, all of the previously broken objects looking as good as new. The owner of the office could only watch in shock, but it didn't take her long to readjust due to her having seen so much super-powered phenomena.

Mercy Graves to looked up with mingled sense of surprise and irritation. "So what's with the sudden change of attitude? One minute you're freaking out, and then you do this! It's like you've got two different personalities!"

She froze for a second, unwilling to say exactly how close her host had been from the truth. Rather than address the subject, she chose to speak as though nothing awkward had been said. "If you want me to leave, than I won't object. Before I leave, you should know that whether or not you can provide me with answers may be a matter of life and death. If you know anything at all that could help, now we be a good time to speak up."

"I already told you that LexCorp can't help you." The other woman retaliated agitatedly.

"You will excuse me if I don't believe you." Raven's eyes narrowed dangerously as she advanced on the woman again, her shadow seeming growing in size as it rippled against the floor and wall.

Mercy sighed with a defeated expression, looking as though enough dealing with the demonic witch. In truth she was still startled after seeing even a small display of power, but working with Lex for so many years had taught her to hide her thoughts and emotions well. "Since it doesn't look like you plan to give up, I suppose we can make a deal."

Raven felt the tension leave her as the room's atmosphere returned to normal. "I'm listening."

"What do you say to this? I give you the information you want, and in return you promise to hightail it out of here and never come back again!"

Raven nodded her head once to confirm the agreement, causing a certain understanding to pass between the two women. Luthor's former assistant dropped into the seat behind her workstation, wrenching open one of the draws that she used to store paperwork relating to the company's past endeavors. She searched through several records before placing a single page on the desk involving the details of the project. Once this was done she gestured for the hero to comer over. She hovered across the room, landing gracefully in front of the desk.

"I figured that Looks like there was something after all." The former chauffeur added with a note of surprise. "Frankly I'm surprised that my former boss didn't destroy all of the documents relating to LexCorp's shadow businesses."

"What do you mean by that?" Raven leaned forward to see the paper, but it was quickly snatched from view by her unwilling host.

She re-read the paper herself before handing it over. "As it turns out, that unfinished technology was sold to Project Cadmus following the Justice Lords incident a while ago. With Professor Ivo dead and no one left who understood it, Lex must've figured that the government would have better luck firing it back up."

"And then exploit it for his own purposes once it was operational." The female hero bitterly completed the thought.

This surprisingly caused Mercy to smile. "You're surprising bright for someone so dark."

Raven ignored the backhanded compliment, although she knew it was somewhat true. "Where would I find it now? The government would have sent it to a research facility of some kind."

"Amanda Waller handed the goods over to Emil Hamilton in the hopes that he could make some use out of it." She set down the rest of the papers. "If you don't believe me, go ahead and check the records for yourself. There's nothing else mentioned here."

Raven paused to consider her options, silently deciding to herself whether it was a better idea to leave quietly or attempt to force more answers out of the woman sitting in front of her. She quickly pushed the latter from her mind, as it would force her to use methods that her morals would not allow. Looking down at her unwilling host, she realized how uncharacteristically mean she acted towards someone who had essentially done nothing.

"That's all I can tell you." Mercy snapped her fingers to jar the young hero from her thoughts. "Since I kept my end of our little deal, I suggest that you do the same."

"As you wish…" the blue-clad sorceress replied stiffly, her eyes moving towards the back wall.

Using her powers, she passed through the window a second time, disappearing into the night with a fluttering of her cloak. The CEO of LexCorp was happy to see her leave, having had her share of bad experiences with both superheroes and super villains during the early days. She began to wonder why someone was so keen on learning about an old company project now in the hands of the government, but decided it wasn't worth knowing.

As Ms. Graves gathered up her dropped paperwork from earlier, Raven was floating over Metropolis through the night sky, still thinking about the events of her visit. Perhaps it was simply Beast Boy's disappearance combined with her obvious lack of rest that had caused her to act like this. Although in this particular case, the instances were connected. The fact that she felt responsible for his disappearance weighed heavily on her mind, and she found it difficult to sleep or even relax.

Her mind returned to the situation at hand, prompting her to reconsider her next action. The name Emil Hamilton had come up during the previous discussion, and luckily for her she knew where to locate the elusive scientist. Being an employee at Star Labs, she was hoping to find him holding up in the laboratory. As a former member of the anti-superhero movement, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but at the moment Raven was anything but worried. With so much riding on the success of her search, she was willing to deal with whoever might know more about Control Freak's dimensional technology.

Earth 2- ?

Beast Boy crouched behind the tree in the form of a rabbit, his ears twitching around nervously as he attempted to figure out an escape route. During his brief visit to a city, he had instinctively come out of hiding to rescue a mother and child from a burning building, but this had been a major mistake. Police at the sight had contacted the Watchtower, and several powerful heroes were dispatched to arrest him. The green changeling had never imagined that a desire to save others would ever backfire, but because of it he had been running nonstop for several hours.

The green hero's enhanced sense of hearing allowed him to detect possible threats relatively easily, although this did little to comfort him as he felt the enemy was getting closer by the minute. His shape-shifting abilities did him little good in this particular case, as the Justice Lords had sent specialized teams to track him down, the situation made worse by the fact that his scent and body color did not change while changing from one form to the next.

He switched to the form of a deer and began leaping through the woods at amazing speeds, occasionally alternating between several different forest animals depending on the terrain. While one form was good for leaping, others were betting for sprinting and hiding, and he used this to his advantage by cycling through these forms with the skill of a master. Having had these powers for years, uses these rapid changes to their fullest extent was something he had long perfected.

As he entered a clearing in the woods, a large shadow shifted overhead, the source of it landing right in front of him like a giant roadblock. The figure was large and muscular, wearing a red loincloth and mask, the eyeholes of which were surrounded by another mask composed of two angular yellow triangles, and his boots were also red with a yellow trim on the edges. Known as B'wana Beast, he was also an expert tracker with the ability to communicate with animals.

"Gotcha!" the wild man bellowed with a triumphant smile as the deer came to a skidding halt.

Seizing Beast Boy by the antlers, he tossed the green shape-shifter into the air and seized hold of a nearby tree branch, using the momentum created by his swinging motion to tackle his adversary mid-fall. The former Teen Titan reacted be transforming into a silverback gorilla, using this new form to grapple with his adversary as they crashed onto the forest floor. They wrestled on the ground for a moment, but he changed into a Kangaroo and booted the bestial man in the face with a series of melee-style kicks and punches.

The loincloth wearing hero slid backwards from the impact, but managed to regain his footing in a mater of seconds, although he didn't appear very upset at the pounding he had received. "Not bad, kid! It's been a while since the Justice Lords gave me some worthy prey to hunt."

Beast Boy turned back into his human form, taking a fighting stance. "If you think I'm gonna be the prey this fight, you've got another thing coming!"

"You don't know who you're messing with!" the other man retaliated with a confident sneer.

"I don't really care!" the green-skinned shape shifter retorted, his hands clenching into fists as they began circling each other. "You jerks think you can keep hunting me like an animal, but don't be so cure you can handle what happens when the beast decides to fight back!"

Without warning, he transformed into a rhinoceros and charged headfirst into his opponent, sending the wild man flying through the air with ease. B'wana Beast rescued himself by grabbing onto a tree branch before hitting the ground, using his enhanced agility to swing upwards to a higher limb in case the green hero chose to attack. Seeing that he had climbed even higher into the tree, Beast Boy smashed into the wooden trunk, forcing his opponent to jump to another tree nearby to avoid a nasty fall.

He repeated this process again, but was thwarted once more as the agile enemy moved from one tree to the next. The green changeling quickly realized the ineffectiveness of his attack and instead turned into a hawk. Using his flight abilities to fly above the treetops before dropping down in the form of a spider monkey. B'wana Beast attempted to grab him while in his diminutive form, but in doing so he dropped his guard.

The animal changer responded by leaping at his opponent from a nearby branch and transforming into a gorilla, wrapping his hair muscular arms around the enemy as they fell from the tree together. As they came closer to impact, he switched to the form of a large elephant, effectively crushing his opponent under the weight of several tons of organs and tissue as they finally hit the ground.

"Ugh, you scum!" the man groaned before passing out on the forest floor. After a moment of twitching, his muscular arms grew limp and eyes rolled back in his head revealing the whites.

"Serves you right for underestimating me…" The green changeling responded with a frown.

He walked towards the man's unconscious form and placed a hand against him, silently checking the man for any sign of a pulse. The feeling of blood pumping through the wild man's veins eased the tension in his heart. While Beast Boy had been in constant danger since he entered this alternate timeline, Slade's explanations back in the prison had only strengthened his own resolve not to lower himself to the level of the Justice Lords.

Killing wasn't something that sat well with the shape-shifting hero, and he would never willingly enact that type of judgment on another human being no matter what the reason. No matter how tough the Doom Patrol had been on the bad guys, the idea of deciding whether another person had the right to live or not just wasn't in his nature. Superheroes were granted a gift in the form of their powers, and like any weapon he worked hard not to abuse it.

He looked down at the defeated hunter with an almost pitiable expression, but the green hero caught a red flash of light out of the corner of his eye, his eyes widening in shock as a colossal beam of energy shot out from the trees. He shifted into a humming bird and zipped through the air as fast as his wings would carry him. Beast Boy returned to his human form and turned around, looking surprised as he caught sight of the destruction caused by the previous explosion.

An entire row of trees that he was sure had been there moments ago were now completely gone, leaving behind smoldering craters where there had once been fertile life. The shape-shifting hero glanced around warily for the source of the blast, his eyes catching sight of the man-shaped shadow that was rapidly descending from above his head. He rolled sideways and flipped back onto his feet with animalistic agility as a towering figure touched down on the space he had been standing moments before.

The newcomer was a strongly built and muscular man reaching over six feet tall, his entire body covered with a red suit. His strange garb seemed to cling to every inch of his body very tightly, although his face merely looked as though he had red skin, and his hair was shortly cut like a soldier in the army. Beast Boy cringed slightly at the man's cold eyes and emotionless gaze, his body taking a step back as the enemy advanced on him.

Swallowing the lump that had begun to form in his throat, the green hero tightened his fists and addressed the enemy. "What the heck are you supposed to be?"

"I am Commander Major Force, although telling you my name is hardly important considering what's about to happen." The larger man dismissed his question with minimal concern.

"Let me guess, you wanna take me down and turn me over to the Justice Lords?" Beast Boy answered with a defiant expression, his fangs sliding out of the corner of his mouth as he pointed to the defeated enemy lying several feet away. "Hate to break it to you dude, but your friend already tried and failed."

"You would be wrong on all accounts. First of all, that degenerate slime you defeated was no friend of mine…" The red-clad killer's serious expression faded to reveal a look of pure malice, his true nature shining through the militaristic façade he had constructed. "Not that he had located you, this poor excuse for a man has outlived his usefulness to me!"

Raising his hand in the air, Major Force fired off a beam to his immediate right, blasting the unconscious form of B'wana Beast with a gigantic beam of highly concentrated radiation. The loincloth-wearing hero screamed in agony for a moment as his eyes shot open in surprise, his body trying to resist the force of the attack as the red glow washed over him like water from a hose. Several seconds passed as he thrashed around, followed by a crimson explosion that engulfed his entire body.

Several trees were also caught in the fierce attack as the explosion let out a blinding flash, but when Beast Boy could see again, all that remained was a pile of smoldering ashes and small bits of human remains charred beyond recognition. Bits of tree and burnt flesh rained down from above, but all the green-skinned hero could do was watch as his opponent snuffed out the life of another person like ordinary people would the wick of a candle.

"You monster! You're more of a beast than anything I can turn into!" the animalistic hero screamed wildly, subconsciously bearing his fangs at the enemy. "That guy was one of your teammates, and you just blew him to smithereens for no reason at all!

"A soldier who fails his mission is no longer any use to his commanding officer." Major Force spoke as if this one concept completely rationalized his actions.

Beast Boy looked around frantically as if he could not believe his eyes, almost tripping twice as he back away from the enemy. "You murderer…" he hissed with fear and disgust.

The green changeling was never a coward by any means, but the display he had witnessed was so terrible that he felt a strange combination of nausea and horror. It took a moment to recover, but by then he was faced with another attack from the radioactive killer. Another beam of energy shot out of the opponent's body, but knowing how deadly the attack was only made his prey all the more frantic to avoid it.

"The Justice Lords tasked me with your immediate termination. So for the good of this planet, and for the preservation of true justice… I hereby sentence you to death!" he bellowed, firing off several more nuclear explosions.

Beast Boy dove sideways and rolled along the ground to avoid getting nailed by the monstrous assault, turning into a snake and slithering part way before returning to his usual form and breaking into a practiced sprint. A quick glance over his shoulder only increased his level of panic, as he saw a large crater several times his own size only a few meters away from where he was standing moments ago. It was horrifying to think that getting caught up in such an assault could mean instant death. While the red villain could not fly, his enhanced powers allowed him to leap so high and far that it didn't really matter.

"What's the matter, kid? Did you finally figure out how pointless this is?" Major Force called after him mockingly, firing beam after beam of energy at his adversary.

"You're making it pretty clear so far, nuke-dude!" Beast Boy retorted as he morphed into a cheetah, the newfound speed giving him just enough speed to avoid another hit.

The enemy's glare only deepened. "A strong enough concentration of my power can turn even the strongest metals into piles of molten ash. Human flesh is even easier, as are these worthless trees you keep running between"

He leapt in front of the green changeling and aimed a bare-handed punch at him, sending the cheetah-man flying several dozen feet through the air with his super strength. Beast Boy collided with a tree and fell limp, but as Major Force advanced on his prey in preparation of firing off another nuclear blast, the smaller man revealed he was still alive and turning into a rhino. He smashing the red-clad hero full-throttle with the horn on his nose, ducking under his enemy's blast of energy by turning into a squirrel and running between his legs. The enemy spun around only to be slammed from behind by Beast Boy in his tyrannosaurus rex form, the rock hard skull colliding painfully with his entire body.

Major Force landed on his feet despite being caught off guard, silently preparing himself for the next attack, although looking up he saw no sign of the enemy. "I was planning on making your death as quick as possible, but it looks like you wanna do this the hard way!" he called into the surrounding woods.

When no one answered, he paced forward like a hunter silently stalking its prey. Major Force was known worldwide for being a powerful and brutal killer, but even he had to admit that his current opponent was unusually versatile and equally resourceful in battle. He failed to see the small green mole crawling about underneath the leaves, but by the time he realized what was going on, the green shape-shifter had already moved into position.

"Take this, Major Dork!" Beast Boy screamed as he struck back at the enemy.

Springing from the ground, he turned into a hippo and tackled the murderous villain with his full strength, but this time Major Force had planned for it. Using his superior agility, the radioactive murderer used his super strength to match Beast Boy's superior size, easily lifting and throwing him several meters with a single toss. He advanced on the green hippo and fired an energy blast, but the creature quickly morphed into a gazelle and pranced away from the spot where a crater appeared seconds later.

The chase began anew with Major Force decimating the surrounding woods, reducing several acres of trees and rocks into what looked like the impact zone of an atomic bomb. Beast Boy felt his lungs burning as he cycled through different animals in an attempt to fight back, knowing full well that escape in these condition was looking less likely by the minute. Even if he shrunk down into something small and hid, he wouldn't put it past the enemy to blow up the entire forest and kill everyone in the area.

The red-clad killer noticed that his prey's movements were getting closer and smiled. "You can't keep this up forever! All it takes is one slip, and this fight ends!"

"Yeah, but at this rate you're gonna run out off gas too." Beast Boy shot back stubbornly.

"My body is composed of pure nuclear energy wrapped up inside a containment suit, as compared to your flesh and blood." Major Force explained nastily. "I can see your pathetic body weakening more by the second."

"Oh maaaaan! This really isn't my day!" The green-skinned hero groaned, his lungs straining hard to continue no matter which form he took.

With another wide jump, the red hunter closed the gap and seized the fleeing shape-shifter by his right leg, tossing him into the air and finishing the motion with a kick to the stomach. Beast Boy's body crumpled beneath the force of the blow as he went spiraling through the air, Upon touching the ground, his sore body skid across the floor and began rolling down the nearest hill, each tumble making it feel every rock, stick, and edge he came into contact with. Unable to focus enough or transform as a result of the sheer pain he felt, the green hero flopped once and plowed headfirst into a tree. Blinking once, he opened his eyes just in time to see a familiar figure bearing down upon him, his right fist glowing with an aura of nuclear energy.

"This was thoroughly entertaining." Major Force replied, silently increasing the amount of power in his hand. "It's actually been a while since I fought someone who didn't die in the first two minutes of the fight."

"What will killing me solve, anyway?" the changeling glared at his captor with angry eyes.

The larger man's expression became suddenly serious. "Unlike you, some of us believe in the one true justice in the world, and thus we choose to support our government."

A small snicker escaped Beast Boy lips, although considering the situation, this gesture surprised even him. "You just to kill people to satisfy your own messed up ego. The way I see it, you're using this system to rationalize every person who gets blown to smithereens."

"You're smarter than you look…" Major Force smirked at how easily this boy had seen through his actions, subconsciously igniting his other fist with radioactive energy. "I'll make this quick… Either way, your fate is sealed!"

The green-skinned hero prepared to dodge again, but before either of them could act, an arrow shot through the air from the surrounding trees, nailing Major Force in the face. It exploded on contact, causing the violent enforcer to growl as he stumbled backwards in annoyance. Several more projectiles struck him from the same source as the first, two arrows striking him in the chest area, and another on his foot. Beast Boy took advantage of the momentary distraction and scrambled away through the smoke, barely avoiding the stray energy blast that fried the tree he was lying in front of. Due to the sheer size of the tree and thickness of its trunk, it remained standing.

He began looking around for the source of his salvation, but another series of exploding arrows struck the side of the trunk at precise angles, causing the gargantuan tree to land on top of Major Force. Trapped in the smoke created by the first series of explosion, he only saw the falling log seconds before it struck him down. A giant thud sounded throughout the forest as Beast Boy ran for cover, but as he ran further into the woods, another face emerged from the underbrush.

The man was tall with a build similar to Dick Grayson, but instead of long black hair he had orange hair cut in a short style. A large yellow quiver holding dozens of arrows adorned his back, and a longbow was grasped firmly in his hand. The man was also wearing a sleeveless red uniform, matching tights, and a mask very similar to the one that Nightwing's usually wore while on duty as a superhero. Although unexpected, there was no mistake as to who it was.

"Speedy!" Beast Boy forced out, looking unsure of how to respond. "Wait… What's going on? Why are you here? I… You… … Are you?"

"I'm not your world's Speedy, but I'm not your enemy either." The archer explained quickly.

"Dude!" the green hero began with a puzzle expression. "I saw this world's Cyborg and thought all of the former Titans in this world were serving those Justice Lord guys."

The former sidekick placed a hand over his mouth to silence him, forcing him to pay attention. "I was sent by this world's Batman to find you and bring you back to our headquarters. Right now we gotta get out of here, but once we get to safety, I'll explain to you everything that's going on. Does that sound good to you?"

It wasn't as if he didn't want to trust the newcomer, but he had no idea whether this world's Speedy was actually a spy for the Justice Lords, or really someone who would try to help. Of course the fact that he just risked his neck to attack a powerful enemy helped make the story sound more believable. Beast Boy could only nod, having been left with little other option than to trust him for now. Since the archer had just saved his life, it was the least he could do to repay the kindness. Still, one could never be too cautious.

He opened his mouth to answer, but the sound of splintering wood caught the attention of both heroes. The tree that had struck their mutual enemy had splint in half, and Major Force now stood amongst the broken bits of wood, his face livid and his body pulsing with anger so powerful that his entire form was giving off pure radiation. Destroying the remains of the log with a burst of nuclear energy, he turned on the rebellious heroes, a look of madness dancing in his cold empty eyes.

"I'm through with playing around!" he hissed dangerously, causing both of his opponents to take defensive positions. "Unfortunately, you guys are just through!"

Major Force raised both hands, sending a colossal-sized beam of radiation in the direction of the two heroes. They both doze onto the ground in an attempt to avoid the blast, but when the hit never came, the pair of victims looked up to see a large muscular figure standing in between them and the incoming blast. The newcomer wore a green soldier's uniform with a large red star emblazoned on the front, a green tinted visor over his eyes, and a hat resembling something a person would wear in the snow.

"Red Star!" Beast Boy cried out in surprise, looking surprised by the Russian hero's appearance.

"Took you long enough to get here, didn't it?" Speedy added with a sour expression.

"I'm little busy to be listening to your criticism, eh comrade!" The super soldier grunted as he shielded them from the radiation blast, using his entire body to block the energy.

The others watched as their savior spread his arms out, using all of his strength to absorb the energy into his own body. His entire form was quickly engulfed in a familiar red glow, but he pointed his arms towards the sky, releasing the dangerous blast so that the radiation would not harm anyone else. Major Force looked shocked that someone had not only resisted the force of his blast, but also redirected it with sheer force of will. Red Star took the opportunity to pummel the enemy with all of his might, sending the enemy soaring away with a series of brutal punches and kicks.

"I figured the explosions would have caught your attention sooner. What kept you?" Speedy addressed the Russian hero.

The green-skinned changeling smiled with a sense of satisfaction. "Cut him some slack… You gotta admit that was pretty awesome. Not to mention Major Dork royally deserved it."

"I shall take that as a compliment." The green-suited soldier replied, his attention switching back to his team leader. "You have my apologizes, but several of the enemy's troops attacked me in the woods, and I was forced to address the situation."

The red-haired archer crossed his arms in a stubborn manner. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Beast Boy looked from one man to the other, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, well now that we're done here, maybe you guys could finally tell me what's going on around this place…"

"Look out!" Red Star called out, instinctively using his body to block another blast.

Speedy grabbed the shape-shifting hero by the collar, pulling him away from the battle as he broke into a run. "Let's get out of here!"

"What about him?" Beast Boy turned to run back and help, but was stopped by his companion.

"The reason I had Red Star accompany me on this mission is because we knew Major Force was looking for you. His ability to absorb and control nuclear energy is perfect for fighting someone that can use it as a weapon." The red-clad archer explained as they ran. "Besides, if the Red Star from your world is anything like ours, then you already know he can take care of himself!"

The green hero quickly remembered the time the Teen Titans had met the super soldier, prompting a nostalgic smile out of him. "I guess you're right, but should you just leave him back there to fight that monster."

"I've already got the situation taken care of!" the other man replied. Using the hand not holding his bow, he pressed the button on his communication earpiece. "Speedy here… The target has been retrieved. Prepare our escape route and a send a ship to Sector 433.785 as soon as possible. We'll meet up on the North End of the Forest when we can… Over and out!"

"You plan on telling me what's going on, now?" Beast Boy pressed him again.

The masked man groaned in an exasperated manner. "Sheesh, can't wait, can you? You really are just like this world's Beast Boy used to be."

He smiled at the comparison, batting a thumbs-up as they ran. "Gee thanks, dude!"

"That wasn't meant to be a compliment." Speedy smirked humorously.

As they fled into the woods, the two combatants continued fighting, neither side giving up. Both men continued testing their radioactive powers on the other, but so far it was to no avail. They fought tooth and nail, creating nuclear explosions that were leveling what was left of the battlefield. Those that missed continued to destroy trees and burn the Earth, while the blasts that actually hit the mark were absorbed into the body of the target. Fighting someone with similar abilities was not always easier, especially considering that their powers were actually canceling each other.

"I was planning on killing the green guy, but who would've thought I would meet someone with similar abilities!" Major Force considered out loud. "You're just like me!"

"You have become a monster, while I am still human!" his opponent retaliated fiercely.

"The fact that you have a physical body only puts you at a disadvantage. A being of pure energy can never lose to someone who still needs to sustain his weak human flesh!"

Red Star raised his fists, this time taking an offensive fighting stance. "We will see! Now let us decide this battle like real men!"

The two combatants began brawling, each delivering punishing blows as they delivered a series of powerful kicks and punches to the other man. It was clear that both were trained to fight, as neither side seemed to be losing just yet. Major Force raised his hands into the air, cupping one fist over the other and bringing it down on his opponent like a hammer. Red Star foresaw the move and blocked it by raising his own arms over his head, breaking the stalemate by kicking the other man in the shin.

His blow separated them for a moment, giving both a few seconds to gather their nerves as they charged at each other once again. The green-clad soldier aimed a punch, but Major Force seized him by the wrist, and pounded him in the stomach with his free hand, causing Red Star to double over in pain. The killer thrust both of his hands forward, slamming his palms against the super soldier's stomach, knocking him onto his back with a well-placed hit.

"It's over, junior!" Major Force raised his foot to stomp the other man through the stomach.

"Not yet!" the hero blocked his enemy's foot and pushed upwards, unbalancing the enemy for a second or two.

Using this much-needed time, Red Star jumped to his feet and grabbed the murderer's ankle, spinning him around several times before tossing him into the sky with as much strength as he could muster. Despite possessing the ability to leap hundreds of feet into the air, Major Force did not have the ability to fly, but Red Star quickly used this to his advantage. Using his enhanced speed and flight, he circled around the man's spiraling form, pulled his fist back, and pounded the enemy repeatedly with his super strength.

Major Force was not beaten yet, but before either of them could strike back, an aircraft seemed to materialize out of mid air and smashed into the red-clad killer with incredible speed. Large cannons quickly protruded from the sides of the vehicle, which immediately proceeded to fire several blasts of lasers in the enemy's general direction to increase the damage. This final strike sent the villain flying as far as the eye could see, his rapid shrinking form disappearing over the horizon several seconds later.

As the Russian hero watched their enemy disappear the small stealth ship pulled up alongside him in mid-air. "Need a quick lift?" Speedy called at him through the intercom.

"That would be much appreciated, comrade." Red Star answered with a quick salute.

He used the small hatch that had just opened up on the side to board the craft. The ship then changed direction, it's cloaking shield quickly switching on to conceal their movements. An invisibility booster built into the ship allowed it to move about unseen, the quiet engine and minimal exhaust making it perfect for stealthy getaways. A dull roar echoed through the air, and in a matter of seconds the aircraft began rocketing towards their base.

Earth 2- The Watchtower

Cyborg opened his eyes with a groan, silently waiting for the Justice Lords to carry out their sentence. With his arms and legs shackled to the wall, and most of his systems critically damaged, he had no means to the cell or remotely hacking the computer system. His battery had been badly damaged in the fight with Supergirl at Titans Tower, meaning that even if he did escape, there was still a chance that his body would deactivate during the attempt.

Now trapped and accepting whatever fate would befall him, the metal hero silently thought about his decision to save his friend. The lies he had told himself to justify the totalitarian system they had established on Earth disappeared as soon as Beast Boy came back into their lives. What he had said to Nightwing earlier was true. The friend they had lost had returned, even if he had passed through time and space to appear alongside them, he was still physically and mentally the same person they had lost to President Luthor's purge. Because of this, he would die with no regrets…

Although he was resigned to the fate that he knew what was to come, Cyborg cringed slightly at the sound of the door. Feelings of dread stirred in his stomach as the sealed entry slid open with a metallic clang, revealing the brooding masked face of Dick Grayson. The Justice Lord stepped forward until he was standing only a few yards from the bound hero, an unreadable expression on his painfully stoic face. They sat in silence for several minutes, almost like both were afraid of what the other might say.

The half-robot was the one who recovered first. "So did you come to say goodbye to your buddy, or do those jerks want you to prove your loyalty and do the deed personally."

Dick Grayson swept past him without a word, moving towards the control panel on the wall. He typed in a series of command codes, causing the electronic shackles binding his friend to release their hold. Being stuck to the wall like a pinned butterfly, Cyborg fell onto the cold metal floor with a thud, taking a moment to process what had just happened. Once he had regained his bearings on the situation, the metallic hero stood back up. He gently rubbed the side of his wrists with his hands, also realizing that his friend was avoiding his gaze.

"I have a strange feeling that Superman didn't authorize this early release." Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, the mechanical man frowned. "Care to explain what you were thinking?"

The former boy wonder turned his head halfway, barely meeting his eyes. "I'm doing this of my own accord… It's time I stopped letting the council make my decisions for me."

Cyborg observed him carefully for any sign that he was lying, but from what little he tell, it looked as though the vigilante was trying to choke back his emotions. "It's good to hear you finally came to your senses… I wasn't sure I would get through to you before they sent me off the death row."

Nightwing spun around, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. "During the meeting I pleaded with the council on your behalf, and they wouldn't listen to reason. Superman realized I wasn't going to budge, so he decided to change the punishment to a complete reprogramming!"

"Reprogramming!" the mechanical hero screamed wildly, a flashback of Fixit playing through his mind as he remembered the mad robot's attempt to do just that.

He also remembered the time Starfire had been subjected to such things, the procedure having zapped her of her free will. In that instant, Cyborg could not see his friend's face, only a large red blur where his vision should have been. He instinctively smashed the other man in the jaw as hard as his injured body would allow. In his damaged condition the metallic her was surprised that the blow made contact at all, but upon seeing the disheveled creature lying at his feet, he realized that Nightwing had willingly taken the hit.

The former prison warden looked away as if ashamed of what he had done. "I'm sorry…" he whispered with a poisoned expression, subconsciously extending a hand to help the other man.

"I deserved it…" Dick Grayson answered solemnly as he accepted the gesture. Straightening his jaw with a quick tug, the young vigilante frowned even deeply. "It took me until now to realize what we were doing was wrong, but I won't let them do to your what they did to Starfire!"

"Even if we escape this place, it's gonna make us both fugitives of the state."

Nightwing ignored his comment. "I let the Justice Lords make me think that what we were doing was right, when in reality we became just like the people we had always worked so hard to stop."

"We all went with it, including me." Cyborg lamented with similar gesture. "It took the appearance of a dead man to make me see the truth…"

They fell silent again, both men silently pondering what else needed to be said. Cyborg wasn't sure whether or not to trust him at first, but seeing the expression Nightwing wore after being struck was something he could never forget. A man who would except punishment without even a flinch was certainly something he had to admire, but the way he spoke now reminded the metallic hero of the days when Dick Grayson had led their team in Jump City. In that moment, all of the atrocities that had passed in the last six years just seemed to evaporate.

"We're not heroes anymore!" the young vigilante looked at the floor as if it pained him to se anything else.

The mechanical man clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Maybe not, but we can be again! We need to find Beast Boy and help to set things right in this world again, even if we die in the process."

The mention of their green friend seemed to have a sobering affect on Nightwing. "They've already dispatched teams to find him! We have to hurry…"

The former Justice Lord headed for the door, but Cyborg quickly cleared his throat to regain the other hero's attention. "I hate to see this, but my body is badly damaged and running pretty low on power. If the battery dies during the escape, it might turn me into an oversized paperweight at a bad time."

"Oh right, I made sure to bring this in case!" Nightwing tossed him a small battery no larger than his fist.

Cyborg caught it with an uneasy expression. "You gotta be kidding, dude… A battery this size might give me power for about a minute before dying. This flashlight battery is hardly a suitable backup power source for a robot like me."

"Believe it or not, that little flashlight battery is a portable power unit my personal science team was developing through experiments with advanced alien technology. It worked flawlessly in the lab's, but maybe now might be a good time to test it in the field."

"If you say so?" the larger man replied with a disbelieving shrug.

Opening a compartment in his chest, the mechanical hero placed the fist-sized battery into his body. At first he didn't feel much different, but after ten seconds of waiting he felt his mobility returning as if someone were pouring energy into his entire body. His arms and legs became less stiff as if someone had just removed gigantic weights from his wrists and ankles, and the lights on his body brightened like flashlight that had just received a fresh battery. The robotic hero moved his arm around to test the feeling, a smile appearing on his injured face.

"So, do you like the new battery?" Nightwing questioned with a knowing smile.

"Oh yeah, baby! I'm ready to bust oughta here and kick some serious butt!" Cyborg pounded one fist into the other with a macho grunt before the reality of the situation returned to him. "The question is, how are we gonna escape with the Martian and the tower's resident superheroes keeping watch over this place."

His friend's expression soured for a moment as he remembered his plan, although he was dreading the possible consequences. "There are several heroes from Batman's resistance being held a few cells over. If we let them go there's a pretty good chance we'll have enough help to escape from here in one piece."

"Well all right, then… So what's with the long face?" the robotic hero asked with a shrug.

"I doubt they'll want to cooperate, because I was the one that captured them to begin with…"

Note to Readers: Not my best work perhaps, but Mercy's reaction to Raven was hard to write. Ms. Graves is arguably not one of the more well-explored characters in DC. As usual it's typically pretty late when I write this story, so I will apologize I advance for any mistakes in spelling and grammar, and of course typos. Hope you found the read just fine all the same, and hopefully the quality, length, and detail with which I write helps to compensate for such things. I also hope you guys enjoyed the story this chapter.

Please tell me what you think… If there was something you particularly enjoyed, or if you have any story ideas, please drop me a review. It really helps the creative process to get some reward for all the hard work, and new ideas from readers have prove helpful in the past to my writing. I would like to hear almost any feedback you might have.

Here are some extra tidbits for the fans… Did anyone realize that Mercy's office was the same one that Lex Luthor had in the DC Animated Universe cartoons? Also, for those of you who were wondering about the Justice Lords Raven… Just wait until next chapter when she finally gets back into the story. Hehehe… Until next time, keep reading, keep reviewing, and most importantly… Keep enjoying.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Means and Justification  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters or logos. This story is written merely for fun, not profit.

Earth 2- The Watchtower 

Nightwing marched through the door leading out of the cell, his hand instinctively moving towards the pouch on his utility belt and withdrawing a fistful of birdarangs. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the remaining security cameras, but in a matter of seconds his wrist, his curved projectiles had completely destroyed them. Holding his left hand in the air, he caught and pocketed his weapons before signaling to the man behind him with the opposite hand.

"The coast is clear!" the young vigilante replied hastily.

"Hold your horses… I'm still getting used to this new power pack!" Cyborg peaked his head out from behind the door before entering the hall, his human eye gravitating towards the destroyed cameras. "I see you still got it goin on!"

"I never lost it." Nightwing stated with a witty smile, which quickly faded as they proceeded into the empty hallway.

Nightwing walked in front as they crept through the silent hallways, both keeping an eye out in case they were being watched. The former Titans proceeded as quickly and quietly as possible, running through the corridors while utilizing an odd combination of speed and stealth. In addition to their own skills, they had seen the Watchtower's systems countless times and easily knew where to run and when to stop and search for more security cameras. Unlike enemies who were brought in from the outside, they could use their familiarity with the system against it.

The duo ran into several guards along the way, but most of them were ordinary humans carrying conventional weapons. Whoever was unfortunate enough to cross their path received a blow to the head for their troubles. They had no intention of causing any permanent damage to the victims of these sudden attacks, but it would only take a second for a guard to sound an alarm, and the last thing they needed right now was to put the entire space station on high alert while they were leading a jailbreak.

After several minutes of navigating the corridors, they came to a stop outside of a special wing reserved for prisoners of war. Cyborg pushed against the smooth surface of the door with all of his might. After a few seconds, it was apparent that even his mechanical arms were not strong enough to move the door. Having helped design the station's security grid, he guessed that it was vacuum-sealed titanium, something so strong that even the most powerful intruder would have trouble opening it.

"This sucker's a lot tougher than I thought!" the robotic hero smashed his fist into the barricade in frustration. "Who would've thought that the system I designed for this rug would eventually come back to bite us."

"You keep forgetting who I am…" Nightwing answered as if this rationalized everything.

Although the door appeared completely devoid of any handle or knob there was a small circle- shaped indent where it should have been. Nightwing reached into his utility belt and pulled out a metallic object resembling an old skeleton key, although the end was shaped very similarly to the indent on the door. He thrust the key into the hole, causing several numbers to appear around the hole like a combination lock. After turning the device like a student opening his locker, the action triggered a panel to open along the wall. He placed his hand on the scanner behind it.

"Identity confirmed! Dick Grayson…" a computerized female voice rang out. After a second of waiting, the doors slid open with metallic clang, revealing the next room beyond.

"After you!" Cyborg gestured mockingly into the darkness beyond.

"Fine by me…" Nightwing clapped his hands three times, causing the lights to flicker on.

The former Titans stepped into the newly lit room, silently taking in the sheer size of the prison hold they had entered. It was a spacious area with metallic paneling covering the walls, floor and ceiling in a similar style to the rest of the Watchtower, the difference being that there was several large titanium doors lining the walls of the room, each one leading into a high-security cell. A number pad outside each entry indicated that a password was needed to unlock them. Nightwing withdrew a folded sheet of paper from his pocket.

His half-robot friend raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's that for?"

"The unlock sequences are listed on that paper, so we can use them to unlock all of the cells." he forced the sheet into Cyborg's hand. "Just pray these guys don't kill us as soon as they get out."

Just then a loud crunch emanated through the room, causing Nightwing to glance around wildly in an attempt to find the source of the noise. Both heroes were fairly certain that they already knew who it was, but their suspicions were confirmed as a fist shot out from the door. The new arrival wrenched through the metal entry with bare hands, a powerful kick knocking the door clean off of the wall. The face of Superman's cousin eyed them hungrily as she entered the room, sending chills down their spines.

"You won't have to worry about those invalids doing the deed." Supergirl replied with vindictive glee. "The way I see it, you're dead either way…"

Nightwing stood up to her without fear despite his lack of superpowers. "Kara… How did you know what I was up to?"

"You must be pretty stupid to think the rest of us wouldn't be suspicious after you stormed out of that meeting. When the dispatcher confirmed that you had returned to the Watchtower, the council began wondering what your intentions were." The female Kryptonian glanced at her curled fingers as if admiring a manicure. "Naturally Superman sent me to keep an eye on you, but imagine my surprise when I came in here and found you freeing the prisoners."

"And you actually came here alone to handle the situation?" he pressed her.

"My cousin didn't want to jump the gun until we found out that you were really a traitor because it would cause civil unrest if one of the Justice Lords turned against the others." She mused sickeningly before revealing a small button in her hand. "Either way, now that we know the truth, it's safe for me to sound the alarm."

Cyborg sat the glint of metal in her hand and reacted instinctively, using a blast from his pulse cannon to destroy the device she was holding. This sent the device flying from between her fingers, causing it to smash into pieces against the wall behind her. Supergirl shook her hand in a minor display of pain, gently stroking her digits like someone who had a cut on their finger. Despite the fact that she was largely unharmed, her facial expression changed into one of unbridled fury, causing both of her targets to step back.

"Looks like your call was disconnected. Don't you hate it when that happens?" the robotic hero commented with a nasty smile.

"Do you idiots honestly think this makes a difference? I don't need any help stepping on a pair of vermin!" Supergirl crunched her knuckles threateningly. "You know, taking you in myself might actually be more fun for me!"

Nightwing spat on the floor. "You got a lot of confidence thinking you can take us both on at the same time…"

"It'll take more than a guy with no superpowers and his leaky robot to put me down. You guys are a joke." She let out a cry chuckle, her gaze hardening abruptly less than a second later. "And not a very funny one, either!"

The young vigilante sprung to life immediately, tossing several of his trademark birdarangs at the Kryptonian girl. She moved ever so slightly to avoid the first, swatting the second out of the air with a movement of her wrist and catching and breaking the third with her opposite hand. Nightwing was hardly surprised at the ineffectiveness of the assault, but his action had given Cyborg the second he needed to make a move of his own.

"Booyah!" the robotic hero screamed as he jumped out from behind his friend, charging and firing off a powerful energy blast at their adversary.

Reaching onto the floor, Supergirl picked up the damaged metal door and used it as a shield to block his attack. She hesitated as her opponents continued their assault before peeking her head out from behind the makeshift barricade. Her eyes turned a deep red as she shot several beams of heat from her eyes. The former Teen Titans scrambled around to avoid her counterattack, and she tried to catch them off balance by tossed the door at them with all of her strength.

"Look out!" Nightwing screamed, roughly shoving his teammate away.

They both scrambled away to avoid getting hit by the flying remains of the metal door, both landing on their feet and facing the enemy together. Nightwing tossed several birdarangs at their opponent in an attempt to slow her down, but Supergirl responded by clapping her hands together with immense force, the shockwaves and wind created by the attack pushing his flying projectiles out of the air. Although Nightwing did not back down, Cyborg looked uncharacteristically hesitant to jump into the battle.

"Something wrong?" Dick Grayson questioned his friend.

Cyborg shook his head with look of revulsion. "I fought this girl once before, and she literally took my apart the last time. Our chances of winning this are pretty low."

The smaller man nodded confidently. "Well now's your chance to get some payback!"

"I won't get beaten by someone of you caliber!" Supergirl screamed as she moved into position above their heads. The smaller man made a move to reach for one of the pouches on his belt, but she reacted quickly and blasted off the masked hero's bag of tricks with well-placed shot.

"You rotten little witch!" he raged at her.

"Looks like there'll be no more toys for you." she wagged her finger like a mother scolding a child.

Nightwing somersaulted backwards as the attack struck, but his friend was not so lucky. She punched him in the jaw and seized the mechanical hero by the arm, pulling him into the air above their heads and ending he brutal combo by tossing him across the cavernous room. He smashed full force into the wall, although it hurt even more due to the fact that the prison hold was made to contain super-powered fighters rather than ordinary convicts. He now sat wedged in a large crevice shaped like his body inside the thick metal walls.

Seeing him incapacitated, Kara turned on the former boy wonder, this time coming at him at full speed. He dodged and weaved around her fists as she left indents in the walls and floor, each blow coming seconds from killing. Dick Grayson knew from years of dealing with meta human enemies that even a single hit could mean death, and in this case he knew she was aiming to put him into an early grave.

"Stand still! I promise it'll only hurt for a second!" she called out with a sinister smile.

"Yeah, as tempting as that sounds I'm gonna have to refuse!" Ducking under another punch, he shunted sideways to avoid it, cringing slightly as a kink in the prison wall appeared where his head had been moments before. "Unfortunately for you I intend on living through this fight!"

An ordinary person could never hope to win under normal circumstances, but Bruce had taught him years ago that a martial artist must fight without wasting a single movement during a fight. While the enemy was stronger, faster, and possessed several distinct advantages over him, Nightwing knew that so long as he moved with her assault, she would still have a hard time landing a hit. The major concern right now was that her Kryptonian invulnerability made it pointless for him to counterattack, and she would most likely outlast him.

He felt his body weakening after a minute or so of avoiding her strikes, but was rescued as Cyborg reentered the battle. The robotic hero wrenched himself from out of the wall and snapped his arm back into place before rugby tackling their adversary from behind, giving his friend a second to get to safety. Nightwing attempted to rejoin the fray to stop his friend from being torn apart, but he wouldn't hear of it.

"Free the prisoners!" Cyborg screamed as he wrapped his arms around their enemy in an attempt to buy some time. "I'll hold her off as long as I can!"

Nightwing nodded once and quickly began to run towards one of the cells. He began pressing in the pass codes as they appeared in his mind, but found it hard to concentrate due to the amount of stress they were under. If the loud crashes shaking the room were not enough, it was still only a matter of time before the Watchtower staff realized he had taken down the security cameras and sent someone else to investigate. Maybe it did seem pointless to try this suicide mission, but no matter how crazy it seemed, Dick had made up his mind and was too stubborn to give up.

In a matter of seconds, the sequence of numbers finished processing and the cell door unsealed itself, allowing Nightwing to wrench it open with relative ease. No sooner had he opened the entry that a body fell into his arms. Seeing he dark-skinned woman wearing yellow and black stripes, he immediately recognized her as his former teammate, Bumblebee. He did his best to support her limp form, but the female hero quickly rejected his help.

Her eyes fluttered open with shock as she realized who had rescued her, a look of disgust filling her face as she backed away from the Justice Lord. "Come to finish off your former friends, Nightwing?" she seethed angrily.

"No time to explain!" he shouted, bolting across the room to retrieve his utility belt.

She crossed her arms in contempt at first, but the battle going on quickly forced her to reassess the situation. It was odd enough that a Justice Lord free her without any explanation, but now it looked as though one of their friends was fighting off another Justice Lord in order to ensure their safety. Awestruck and distracted by the battle going on, she froze as though someone had trapped her in a train of thought, but due to the confiscation of her weapons she could only stare I horror as Supergirl slammed Cyborg into the floor repeatedly.

Dick Grayson quickly took the list of codes he had given to Cyborg earlier and forced them into girl's trembling hands. "The release codes are on this paper! I need you to free the other heroes being held by the Justice Lords!"

"But why would you…" the insect-themed hero began confusedly.

Her question went unanswered as he ran back towards the fray to save his friend's life, leaving her dumbfounded for a moment. She quickly came to her senses and ran to the other cells, using the bee-like wings on her back to fly as she avoided Supergirl's beams of heat vision. Hopefully someone would explain what was going on soon enough, and even if they didn't she was not willing to leave her comrades behind so long as she could save them from execution.

Across the room, Cyborg had been taking a beating similar to his last bout with Superman's cousin, although this time he made certain not to get too close to her and had mostly focused on using his cannon while doing his best to outmaneuver her. The new power source Nightwing had given him also enhanced his own speed, which proved helpful despite the fact that it was still not much compared to his opponent's flying ability and enhanced agility.

"Yo, psycho-girl! Is that all you got?" he screamed challengingly as she flew above him. "I remember you being a lot tougher the last time!"

"I decided to make it nice and slow this time." She retorted with an evil flare.

Without warning Supergirl darted into position behind the robotic her. He attempted to respond, but she seized him by the skull and began smashing his head repeatedly into the wall, several more cracks appearing on his metallic body as she increased the brutality of her strikes. Cyborg attempted to pry her hands off of him, but she elbowed him in the gut and began wrenching at his arm in an attempt to pull his limb from its socket, causing him to cry out in pain. Changing her mind mid-way, she prepared to crush his face instead but was stopped as a grappling hook wrapped around her arm.

Nightwing stepped forward, having retrieved his gadgets along with his belt. "Let him go, or I promise you it will be the last thing you ever do."

"That's fine with me… I was pretty much down with him. Maybe I should kill you first, instead!" To his surprise, she tossed the robotic hero aside with a look of disappointment and yanked him towards her by his own grappling hook. "Did you seriously think that would work?"

"It's over… For you!" he retaliated with his confident smirk.

The young vigilante released the rope to avoid being pulled in and regained his footing with a small leap. Using his She began to charge at him, but Nightwing still refused to back down from the threat she posed. Popping open the lead-lined pouch of his miniature arsenal, he revealed to her a tiny shard of glowing green stone that had been confiscated during one of the Justice Lords raids on the rebellion. He had made certain to keep it for himself in case of such an emergency, and now was beginning to realize just how important the decision had been.

Supergirl fell to the floor as her flying ability ceased, landing unceremonious on her now unsteady feet. "Ugh… Kryptonite!"

"The one thing in this entire universe that can render your powers completely worthless." Dick Grayson replied, his face bathed in the eerie glow of the radioactive stone.

She stumbled backwards away from him with an unsteady stride as the radiation began to take full affect, falling to her knees with an agonized groan and crossing her arms over her chest as if to protect herself from further suffering. Her opponent extended his hand holding the stone challengingly, as if daring her to fight back with full knowledge that she could do no such thing. Although Kryptonite was extremely rare and difficult to find even in small quantities, even a small amount was enough to weaken a member of her species who had taken in the yellow sun's radiation.

"You scum!" she hissed with a poisoned expression. Supergirl tried to sound unfazed by what was bound to happen now, but found this exceedingly difficult in the face of her current situation.

His expression remained cold and pitiless towards her plight, while in reality he was feeling a certain sense of satisfaction towards this sudden turn of events. Nightwing had been appointed a member of the high council around the same time as Supergirl, both having been brought in to replace Batman after his treachery and the Justice Lords' return to power. From this first meeting there existed a sense of hostility between the newly appointed heroes, but now it was almost like poetic justice to see someone so drunk with power trapped in such a state of vulnerability.

"You always thought it was funny to joke about my lack of superpowers, but now it looks like you're the one who can't fight back." He answered calmly.

"What's the matter, you don't have the guts to kill me?" she pushed the issue, displaying a small shadow of her previous arrogance.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Since Luthor's death all those years ago, I've done plenty of things that I never would have imagined myself doing before…"

Reaching into the sleeve of his costume, the ninja-like hero withdrew a small knife that he had concealed on his person in case of emergency. Once the weapon was drawn, he gave it a gentle twirl between his fingers before moving the sharpened blade in a stabbing position, his fingers tightening into a fist around the handle of the dagger. The powerless Kryptonian actually flinched slightly at his sudden display, having gravely misjudged her enemy's willingness to finish off an enemy.

"After all those times you refused to kill your targets, who would have thought this would be the result of your treachery. I guess we had you pegged wrong…" She spoke with a bitter sense of mingled fear and respect.

"I guess you did!" he raised his hand and brought down the knife. "This is for everyone you've ever killed, and the countless others whose lives you destroyed."

Before he could complete the strike, a large hand seized him by the wrist, halting the execution. The young vigilante turned around to see Cyborg standing behind him, having stopped his friend from committing blatant murder. Further investigation revealed that they now had an audience consisting of Bumblebee and the other imprisoned heroes, all of whom had been freed from their respective cells during the previous battle. Green Arrow, Vigilante, Stargirl, and Captain Marvel had watched the spectacle from a distance, only now approaching their saviors.

The green-clad archer supported Stargirl as they proceeded with the cowboy-themed Vigilante walking not far behind with a slight limp. Captain Marvel followed from the rear of the group, having turned back into his superhero form shortly after being released. They had each been held in an isolation cell devoid of light and sound, and were all extremely disoriented upon their initial release. To make matters even more complicated, none of the group's members were sure of what to think about the story Bumblebee had given them, and they remained too confused to fully comprehend what was going on.

"This isn't the time for you to take another life!" Cyborg scolded, gesturing towards the small crowd standing behind him.

Although he realized how many people were watching them, Nightwing ignored their presence and scowled at his friend. "What I'm doing is justice, not murder!"

Green Arrow stepped between them as he appeared on the scene, extending an arm to stop them from fighting. "Insect girl over there says you were the ones who freed us. Would someone mind explaining the us what's really going on?"

"In a moment… Once I finish this first." Nightwing turned a cold gaze towards the woman on the ground, but what he saw was sickening.

Kara had begun to take in the full affects of the Kryptonite, her body having absorbed too much of the radiation that she couldn't kneel anymore. Too weary to muster up the energy to insult her enemies, she was now situated in an uncomfortable position on the floor, her hands pressed against the floor to prevent her from kissing the ground. Now feeling incredibly sick, the female hero couldn't help but wonder how much longer it would take before the enemy finished her off or the green stone completely sapped what little was left of her power.

The masked vigilante shoved them aside and raised his weapon, but this time it was the green clad archer who stepped in, swatting it from his hand with an angry expression. "You may have rescued us, but that doesn't make you a real hero!"

"What did you just say?" Nightwing retorted challengingly. "You know that she deserves this more than anyone else!"

"If that's the case, then so do we!" Cyborg screamed at the top of his lungs, roughly pushing the other man back. "You and I also committed murder while serving this messed up system."

The smaller man glared at his companion. "Even so, do you think it's a good idea to let her run free now that she knows what we're up to. You're just lucky that Kara was too arrogant to set off the alarm or call in backup, or else we would probably be dead! She's too dangerous for us to keep her alive!"

"Spoken like a true Justice Lord!" The robotic man returned his hostilities. "Don't you get it? Using justice as a reason to take away someone else's life is how this system started… That fateful day in Washington when Superman killed President Luthor!" he seized his friend by the collar and lifted him a few inches off of the ground so that they were face-to-face. "Would Beast Boy want you to kill her because you can?"

The scene froze for a moment, the other heroes in the room remaining quiet as they watched the scene before them without comment. In that instant everything seemed to freeze as Nightwing's memories replayed themselves inside his head. He remembered the old days when life was so much simpler and all they did was fight crime in Jump City and enjoy each other's company.

His mind returned to what he had been about to do, now realizing that despite his intentions to help others, his ruthlessness had remained the same as the other Justice Lords. Considering what he had almost done made him realize that any of the people he now hated most would have done the same, and he comparison sickened him.

"All right…" he nodded once, prompting his friend to put him down. Nightwing kicked the fallen knife away with the side of his foot, instead taking out a pair of handcuffs from his trademark utility belt. "Cyborg, lift her up!" he gestured to their enemy.

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" she groaned weakly as the heroic robot helped her into a standing position.

Bumblebee watched carefully before coming closer. "What do you plan to do with her now?"

The young vigilante did not answer right away, as he was too busy with the task at hand. Forcing his prisoner's hands behind her back, Nightwing placed the shackles around her slender wrists before setting her body back down on the floor, retrieving the piece of Kryptonite from beside her as he did so. Once the glowing green shard was back in the lead-lined pouch of his mini-arsenal, he used the broken cord of his grappling hook to bind her legs together and left her to fall back onto the cold metal floor with an unceremonious plop.

Captain Marvel raised an eyebrow as he saw the prisoner stirring. "You do realize that a pair of metal handcuffs won't be enough to hold back someone of her caliber."

He nodded in agreement. "Those binders are actually power disrupters like the behavior collars we used at Titans Prison. The affects won't kill her like Kryptonite, but as long as Supergirl wears them her powers are completely gone."

"I knew we'd find another way to stop her." Cyborg added with a sense of pride.

Vigilante leaned against the nearby wall with an irritable expression. "Now that you boys are finished dealing with that, I really wanna know why you big important Justice Lords moseyed on down here and set the prisoners free?"

"Don't call us that!" Nightwing snapped, looking equally as annoyed.

"Yeah, I would also like to know what's going on." Green Arrow raised an eyebrow.

Dick Grayson shook his head frantically. "We should really get out of here before someone else comes down looking for the source of the noise."

The former prison warden shook his head. "Dude, did you forget that I helped design this piece of scrap. Most of the walls are sound proof to prevent people from eavesdropping on each other. Not to mention that you and I sent all the guards on this floor to dream land before busting into this place."

"In any case we really should leave here before someone does show up and set off the alarm." Green Arrow remarked.

"Now just hold on a minute!" Vigilante stood up and rounded on their saviors. "Even if what Bumblebee said was true, I don't see why we should trust these guys. What if this whole jailbreak is some kind of trap?"

Cyborg looked as though he had just been slapped in the face. "If you'd rather go back into your cell, just go ahead and say so!"

The two men looked as though they were about to argue more, but Nightwing moved between them, silencing both with a quick glare "Look…" he began with an earnest tone of voice. "We have our own reasons for waiting to help you guys."

"Cowboy over there has a good point." Green Arrow stared at the two Titans pensively. "Those isolation chambers may have screwed with our minds, but I still remember that you were the one who brought us in to begin with."

"Pardon us if this sudden change of heart just don't seem right." Vigilante added in.

Stargirl shrugged. "I'm not sure what to think after everything that's happened."

In spite of their lack of trust, Nightwing understood that the others were only telling the truth and judging by logic. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before answering to the best of his abilities. "I'll explain once we get to somewhere safe, but right now you should know that my friend and I are fugitives just like you guys."

Their audience became quiet and quickly discussed the matter, Bumblebee actually vouching for them after seeing the battle with Supergirl that almost cost them their lives. Most of the others seemed convinced of their sincerity if not curious as to why two heroes affiliated with the Justice Lords would suddenly turn traitor, but the fact that both men had fought to save them from incarceration meant something.

Being the youngest among them, Captain Marvel was more accepting of the idea. "C'mon guys… They did risk their necks to help us. No matter who they are, I believe everyone out there deserves a second chance!"

Green Arrow acknowledged the boy's opinion, although as the group's unofficial leader, he took everyone's opinion into account before making a decision. They quickly came to an agreement despite the fact that most usually found the junior hero's optimistic views to be overly idealistic and not particularly helpful the majority of the time.

"Okay… We're willing to give you guys one more chance. Any sign of a double-cross, and this could get ugly!" Stepping forward, the archer extended a hand to the former Titans. "Do we have ourselves a deal?"

Dick Grayson flanked back at his friend before shaking hands with the green-clad hero, cementing the agreement with a firm nod. "Yeah, that's fine with us!"

"All right then, let's get to coming up with an escape plan!" Cyborg added hopefully.

Stargirl raised her hand like a student in class. "Excuse me a minute… Most of our group doesn't have superpowers. We should really get our weapons back before attempting an escape."

"I believe that can be arranged…" Nightwing stepped past her as he walked up to the next door, using his hand to punch another code into the keypad.

In a matter of seconds the door unsealed itself to reveal a room where the Justice Lords kept most of the equipment taken from their prisoners for evidence. The five heroes followed him into the next chamber, their eyes growing wide in surprise as they realized just how many different types of weapons had been confiscated over the years. Tools of all different types were preserved in glass cases, the objects varying from conventional weapons like guns and knives to futuristic weaponry comprising alien technology and dangerous inventions.

Cyborg noted the similarities between this room and the one the former Titans had used back when their tower in Jump City was still a superhero base instead of a prison. "Kinda reminds me of our old evidence room back home."

"Yeah, I suppose…" Dick Grayson answered his friend before addressing the group. "Listen up! We handed any weapons to the guards following your capture, so regardless of what you had it should be somewhere in the room!"

The group split up as they began searching through draws, boxes, and cases to find what they were looking for. Green Arrow poked through several cases before locating his bow and quiver while Bumblebee pulled her B-shaped weapons from a storage box. Stargirl retrieved her golden staff rather quickly, her weapon being the easiest to find as it was being used as a hanging display on the wall.

"Dang… This is the kind of place a cowpoke like me could get lost in." Vigilante was much less picky in regards to his weapons and instead looked through several gun cases.

He was silently comparing the different types of firearms to determine which would be best to take for himself. Due to the sheer number of guns he decided that keeping his eyes out for a suitable substitute for his own pistols would be easier than trying to signal them out. He saw a particularly large handgun that seemed too big for practical use, although the smaller models and shotguns weren't really his style either. Scanning the shelf one more time, he seized a pair of old-fashioned pistols similar to his own and pulled the trigger to test the feel of the weapon.

Nightwing on the other hand had made an infinitely more useful discovery in the section reserved for more curious items. Using a small blade in his pocket, the young vigilante sliced a hold one of the cases, gently pushing the indent inwards the remove the obstacle. With the skills of a master thief, he gently reaching into the case, pulling out a square metallic box roughly the size of a tape recorder.

"Looks like I just found our way out of this dump." He mused with a satisfied smirk.

The rest of the group joined him, although they all looked rather confused by his sudden statement until they came close enough to see what was in his hand. Cyborg was pleasantly surprised by the discovery as he glanced over his friend's shoulder, while the others already had a good idea of what was going on. They recognized the device as an advanced piece of alien technology known as a Mother Box, a powerful yet dangerous device that was often used by the denizens of Apocalypse and New Genesis.

"We're gonna open a boom tube?" Bumblebee made a sour expression as she saw the box.

"Do ya'll got enough juice in that piece of techno junk to get us oughta here?" the cowboy-themed her questioned.

"I checked it out a second ago… From what I can tell it looks this particular weapon wasn't touched after Superman took it from Kalibek." Dick Grayson replied.

Green Arrow nodded with a sigh. "I'd rather we didn't have to, but the other option is fighting our way back through the Watchtower, getting to the bridge, and then hijacking a Javelin and escaping through the satellite's security field. The way I see it, there's really no contest."

Nightwing tried his best to ignore them as he pressed a few buttons on the machine, making an attempt to set their coordinates despite his lack of familiarity with the technology. After several moments of playing around with it, he seemed to yield results. "I can use this little toy to get us back to my headquarters before Superman finds out what we did."

"I say you should let me do it, instead." Cyborg snatched the remote from him.

Captain Marvel who had remained quiet while the others looked for their weapons, finally spoke up. "Why did you do that?"

"I'll bet that they'll probably search Nightwing's base first once words gets out, which means we won't be safe for too long there." The robotic hero replied as he continued to type in his own series of coordinates. "However, I've got a few hidden bunkers that no on else knows about that we might be able to use instead."

Nightwing looked like he was ready to retort, but upon hearing this explanation he quickly backed down. "All right, go ahead and boom us out of here!"

"Will do!" Cyborg responded as he pressed the button on the Mother Box.

The machine crackled with energy before releasing a large vortex a few inches away, allowing them all to pass through. Although Green Arrow's previously incarcerated group looked hesitant to trust their newfound allies, Nightwing stepped through the portal first to ease their nerves, quickly earning the trust of the others. One by one they disappeared into the pulsing waves of light and disappeared into the tunnel-like vacuum, leaving behind Cyborg. Placing the Mother Box in a small compartment in his leg, he also moved into the light and vanished.

Earth 2- ?

Beast Boy followed Speedy through he a series of halls with Red Star following the rear, all three feeling a certain level of tension in the air. The passageways were dark an empty save for the occasional worker passing them in the halls, but none attempted to start a conversation and things stayed relatively quiet. The passed several doors during this silent march, all of which looked as though they were sealed shut to avoid any possible breach of privacy. He occasionally heard strange noises coming from the other side, but asking about it proved worthless.

To their green-skinned guest, the silence was almost maddening. Both of his escorts had refused to tell him anything until they reached their destination for security reasons, although this only made him even more impatient. They had promised him answers to his questions and so far he had received none even after cooperating, although his lack of knowledge about this world only complicated matters, because he was not sure who to trust or if these people really were trying to do what they claimed.

"Dude, where are you taking me? It's about time someone gave me some real answers!" he burst out angrily. Not realizing that the others had stopped moving, he ran into the red-clad archer.

"We have arrived…" Red Star stated in his typical military style.

Speedy stood aside and pointed to the nearest door. "If you want your questions answered, then head through this door."

"Just what do you mean by that?" the shape-shifter asked with a confused expression.

"We've both been told not to give you too much information about anything until our superiors are sure that they can trust you." The red-clad archer explained. "Don't take it the wrong way. It really wasn't our decision to keep you in the dark like this."

Red Star placed a supporting hand on the green hero's shoulder to get his attention. "We shall both wait outside for your return. Good luck!"

Beast Boy pondered whether or not to go through with it, but seeing how they rescued him he really didn't see any reason not to believe their sincerity. It wouldn't do much good to press them for any answers, although his own curiosity was what was driving him at this point. With the high hopes of finally hearing the other side of the conflict that ravaged this world, the green-skinned hero opening he door and entered the next room the new entry revealing a stairway leading upwards to the next floor.

He ascended the flight and opening the next door at the top of the stairs, stumbling slightly as he entered the darkened room. Beast Boy heard the door seal shut behind him as he moved through the shadows, straining his human vision to see where he was. Without warning the lights flashed on, revealing the full details of the place in which he stood. It was a room with futuristic metal paneling and a horseshoe shaped lining the walls, wrapping around him like a snake as he stood in the middle. There were large banners depicting a bat-like crest representing the rebellion.

Batman sat in the central seat, and several other people were also present, his hands were folded in thought. To his direct right was Barbara Gordon still sitting in her wheelchair, while the two chairs farthest from their leader were occupied by Black Canary and a heavily armored technology expert that he scarcely recognized as Steel. The chair directly to Batman's left was noticeably unoccupied, although their guests did not think much of it.

"So, I take it you guys are in charge of this place?" Beast Boy began hesitantly.

Bruce Wayne nodded in agreement, although he quickly moved onto business. "Upon learning that a hero from the Justice League's dimension had entered our world and was on the run from the Justice Lords, we sent Speedy to bring you here."

The green skinned man scratched his head subconsciously. "Wait just a minute. How did you guys even know I was?"

"We may not be winning this war, but don't underestimate the effectiveness of our intelligence network." Barbara Gordon straightened her glasses with an air of confidence.

"Moreover, it is important for us to know exactly how much you have learned about this timeline before we proceed any farther. "Batman cut in suddenly, his gaze sharpening behind the pointy-eared cowl. "Tell us anything you can about the experience, and then we can determine what is to be done with you."

Beast Boy paused in thought as if contemplating on how much he should tell them, although looking around and considering his current situation, he honestly had very little to lose. Sticking a finger into the collar of his uniform, the green-skinned hero stretched it nervously as if trying to give himself some air. The heroes sitting around the table bore down upon their visitor with impassive faces, making it difficult for him to tell whether they were scrutinizing him or simply observing him.

"All right… It's like this." The transforming hero swallowed his fear and stood up a little straighter. "I was on a mission with my team in our world to stop a villain from sending the Earth into his own pocket dimension. Before we could destroy the device, I was taken out of the battle and somehow ended up trapped in this dimension." He shrugged with a puzzled expression, knowing that his story wasn't very detailed. "Sorry dudes, that's really all I know."

Steel exchanged glances with the others. "It must have had something to do with whatever type of technology the bad guy was using. What do you think, Barbara?"

"Most likely, although this hardly my area of expertise." Oracle responded with a frown.

"We can handle the details later, but right now we have more important matters to discuss at the moment." The Caped Crusader quickly shifted the focus to his next question before they could deepen the discussion, his gaze settling back onto their guest. "If you really are from the Justice League's dimension, we can assume that you might have been somewhat aware of the events that transpired in our world."

Beast Boy shook his head. "Only the Seven Founding members of the League have any major knowledge about what happened here. The rest of us weren't given the full details, although some of us were at least aware that there was a timeline where heroes seized control of the Earth." His expression became rather distraught. "I never thought that I would get stuck here."

The panel of heroes muttered amongst themselves as if they were deliberating what else to say, although it was hard for Beast Boy to get the full gist of what they were talking about due to the low volume of their voices. From what he managed to catch it didn't seem as if they distrusted him, which due to his limited knowledge he could only assume was a good thing. After a minute or so had passed, the group all turned back towards him and Batman continued the interrogation as if they had not stopped.

"Describe your experiences in this world in as much detail as possible." The dark-clad man demanded of him.

Beast Boy was slightly bothered by the bluntness of his demands, although it reminded him a little of Dick Grayson, making it clear where his team leader had picked up the habit. It must've been an unspoken law that members of the Bat Family didn't like to mince words, especially since they always issued commands rather than requests while extracting information from other people.

"Can't say it's been a picnic so far." The green-skinned hero cleared his throat before beginning his explanation. "It started when I woke up in some dark alley at night, my butt still sore from the pounding I took back in my world. At this point I had no idea where I was, but a bunch of cops attacked me for staying out past curfew and the next thing I knew they were carting me off to Titans Tower."

"That sounds like something they would do… Talk about justice to the extreme." Barbara Gordon rolled her eyes as she actively mocked the system they now lived in. "It must've been ironic to end up imprisoned a place you considered your home."

Black Canary shook her head. "In his world perhaps, but here that building was converted into one of the most exemplary government prisons on the planet."

"I believe he was quickly made aware or this." The Caped Crusader dismissed her comment without much though before returning focus to their guest. "We have some knowledge about the incident that went on that night, but you could help by filling in the details."

The green-skinned hero responded quickly. "The blonde chick wasn't lying… I figured out how things worked here really quick, although it was pretty scary to learn that my best friend was in charge of jailing people in this world." he paused with a distasteful expression as if he has swallowed something disgusting. "In my world Cyborg was my friend, but here he thought I was an imposter. It was pretty scary when he told me that I was dead in this freaky timeline."

Faint murmurs of interest were muttered by the group's heroes, but Batman raised a hand to silence them and quickly addressed the shape-shifter. "Despite siding with the Justice Lords, your friend isn't stupid enough or impulsive enough to kill without reason. I expect he figured out what was going on at some point during this conversation."

"He figured out that I was from the Justice League's dimension and gave me the heads-up, but he left saying that if he stayed too long he might start thinking I was the friend he lost." Beast Boy's expression became pained. "Unfortunately I got the full story from Slade when the guards brought me to my cell that night."

"That jerk helped the government persecute superheroes during the purge." Oracle replied bitterly. "He's partially responsible for Superman going rogue and establishing the current system where his inner circle of superheroes calls all the shots."

Steel shook his head solemnly. "Even that's an understatement, especially since all decisions made by the government have to go through him first. It's as crazy as it's ever been…"

"We're getting off the subject!" their leader intervened in a stern manner, his patience thinning as he turned to face their guest. "Now, continue…"

Beast Boy swallowed once before speaking up. "Well, I wasn't happy to see Slade because he was my team's arch enemy back home. He thought it would be fun to explain everything that happened during this demented hero genocide, and all the stuff about Lex Luthor. Apparently after they executed a bunch of heroes including this world's Beast Boy, my friends invaded Washington alongside the Justice Lords, and Superman murdered the president."

Batman's expression remained inscrutable. "So you're aware of that as well…"

"I also heard that you helped my world's Justice League stop the Justice Lords once, but they got free and turned this version of Earth into their personal paradise again."

He looked for a reaction, although when the others still remained impassive. Their leader acknowledged his comment with a small nod. "Hearing what my alternate self had to say made me realize just how far heroes had fallen in this world. Because of this, I did everything I could to fix what went wrong."

"You aren't alone… I think I had the same affect on my friend." Beast Boy began with a saddened expression. "Once they Lords heard where I came from, they must've considered me a threat and sent someone to kill me." He paused to take a breath. "Cyborg realized what he had done and set me free at the last minute while fighting off Superman's deranged cousin. I just hope he made it out in time…"

"According to some information we were able to steal from the enemy's mainframe, your friend survived the battle." Barbara Gordon frowned at this. "Although he was incarcerated aboard the Watchtower for his actions, I assure you he was still alive up until that point."

The green-skinned hero heaved a sigh of relief, although he felt guilty about having left his friend behind. Cyborg stayed back at the tower to distract the enemy long enough for him to get away, but hearing of his defeat and imminent capture only made Beast Boy feel worse. If he had been able to help, there might have been a chance they could have both escaped. As outmatched as they were in that fight, he still wondered if things would have turned out better for them if he had gone back to help. Of course had he actually done this, there was also a good chance that they both would have been captured in the struggle. At times like this he wasn't really sure what the right thing to do really was.

"What were the exact circumstances when were you found by our rescue team?" Batman questioned, jarring the younger hero from his thoughts of guilt.

"They found me being chased down by a team of trackers. I finally got tired of running away and ended up fight some of the guys, but then a psychopath named Major Force appeared and killed his teammates so that he could deal with me alone. That walking nuke almost killed me until Speedy and Red Star showed up to help."

"The Lords must be serious if they sent someone like him to deal with you." Barbara added in.

Black Canary pushed aside a curtain of her long blonde hair. "You must be some hero if they were willing to let Major Force run rampant and destroy half the quadrant."

Batman shook his head as is berating the others. "It's not the danger this boy poses as a fighter, but rather as a hero. While Beast Boy possesses a strong shape-shifting ability, he also represents an entire world of heroes whose ideologies came close to changing this entire world." he looked down at the boy. "In this world, you would be a symbol to every person who has ever doubted this system, especially those who were your friends."

"I suppose the Flash was the same for you." Steel interjected suddenly.

"Moving on…" The Caped Crusader dismissed his comment. "We believe that they want to kill you because of your world's ideals." He stood up and gestured to the group as a whole. "These beliefs you represent are the same ideals that this resistance force was built upon."

Beast Boy stiffened up as he realized why he wanted to talk to them to begin with. "Speaking of which, it's about time you guys explained to me what's going on here." He spoke out, resulting in disapproving glares from his hosts.

After several moments of awkward silence, their leader stood up from his seat, causing his guest and fellow heroes visible discomfort. "The part of this catastrophe you might be unaware of is what happened after the Justice League tried to fix our world."

"I heard that the Lords were originally sent back to this world and imprisoned for their crimes against humanity." The green changeling began.

"Unfortunately it didn't stay that way for very long…" Batman lamented. "I destroyed the device that we created to traverse dimensions so that the timelines would return to they were always meant to be, but shortly after this the Justice Lords were freed by their followers. At the time I was still working with governments to restore democracy and independence, but most heroes remained loyal to the Lords and thus freed them from their prisons."

A dawning realization hit the younger hero. "So that must mean this resistance you guys started up must've been made of the guys who tried to stop them."

The rebellion's leader inclined his head. "Although the old system we had tried to revive was quickly trampled underfoot, the heroes that supported our cause founded the resistance. The rest of us were driven underground once Superman tightened his grip on the Earth and we've been losing this war ever since."

These last few lines caused a wave of sorrow to wash over the heroes, and for the first time since the meeting began, Beast Boy could see distinct emotion in their faces. Although they kept their composure, looking into their eyes was enough to see that it was just a façade, Each resistance leader displayed a sense of regret by this pessimistic but truthful notion, and the dreariness that permeated the room was so powerful that even he took a moment to share in their sorrow. Upon considering their previous words, he remembered something that gave him some hope.

"Hey, didn't you mention a device that opens doorways to my dimension?" he began with a sense of urgency. "Maybe we can open the door so that my Justice League can help you guys win this war. If they did it once, they might do it again!"

Batman shook his head somberly. "First of all we have no right to force others into a conflict that has nothing to do with them. Secondly, we lack the resources to create another trans-dimension reactor. When the device was built I was a Justice Lord with access to the best technology and an unimaginably large power source. We have neither… You do the math."

"We're sorry that we can't help you." Steel looked genuinely concerned as he apologized.

"No sweat, in my experience nothing's ever that simple." The green changeling sighed with frustration, although he did not appear bitter towards them.

The resistance leader quickly called the meeting back to order. "After hearing of your exploits in this world, we believe that you may be able to help us win this war. You converted Cyborg despite the fact that he was one of the most loyal supporters of the Justice Lords, and rattled the chain of command among Superman's group just be existing in this timeline."

His words quickly piqued Beast Boy's interest. "So where exactly are you going with this?"

"Our proposal is simple." Batman began with a serious glare. "Join the resistance and fighting alongside us so that you no longer have to fight alone. If we win this war, there's also a good chance that we may be able to obtain the technology necessary to send you back to your own world."

"What do you say, greenie?" Barbara Gordon smiled at him in an attempt be courteous. "You help us return this world to the way it's supposed to be and in return we'll do whatever we can to sort out your affairs… Sounds good, right?"

Beast Boy looked upon the faces of the heroes again, although he knew he that refusing their offer would probably mean returning to the wilds and fighting for his life all alone. At least here he had friends and someone to trust, despite his initial suspicions about them. If he had to choose between them it was like being asked whether he would prefer life or death. He was still unsure of whether or not he should be involved in this world's dangerous affairs, but in this moment the choice seemed clear.

The green shape-shifter swallowed the lump that had begun to form in his throat and stepped forward with a sense of pride. "Count me in!"

Earth 2- ?

The demonic aura emanating from Raven's body was much stronger and distinctively darker than it had been in her youth, although over the years she had embraced her destiny as Trigon's daughter and embraced the power that she had long locked away. Ever since that fateful day when her best friend died, she no longer saw a reason to shun the shadows and instead used their power to unlock a strength that her human side could barely comprehend let alone control. There were times when she considered herself a different person than the girl who had founded the Teen Titans all those years ago.

As these thoughts moved through her mind, she tried to banish them for fear that any hesitation would disrupt the flow of her powers. The young sorceress had been sitting in the darkness of her citadel for several hours now, and was working on a new spell to conjure demons similar to those that Trigon had always created and utilized in his evil endeavors. As strong as she was, her demonic powers were still only those of a hatchling compared to those of her father.

Caught up in her meditation, she winced when a knock came from the outside, signifying that someone wanted to enter. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to control her unstable emotions, she couldn't help but winced violently as the rapping grew louder, this time shattering her focus completely. The bright red marks on her body began to glow so strongly that they began to show through the long-sleeved black gown she wore to hide them from others, her eyes widening with a sense of innate fury.

Floating over to her cauldron-like basin, she waved her hands over the surface of the liquid to reveal the scene see at the gats to her manor. It looked as though the front door had been ripped off its hinges by some force when she refused to answer the call, and in a matter of moments her ears detected the sound of footsteps down the hall. Before she could properly react, the magically sealed door to her personal quarters was splintered and fell to pieces in the doorway.

"Rise and shine, demon girl!" an angry female voice screamed through the darkness.

Raven snapped her fingers, causing the chandeliers above her head to light up. Despite her annoyance at the intrusion, she actually was curious to see who could have broken through an entryway protected by one of her sealing spells. The eerie glow from the lights revealed the faces of her intruders. Shayera Hol stood holding her mace out as John Stewart entered the room from behind, the former looking impatient while the Green Lantern appeared frustrated by the obstacles they had encountered on the way.

Despite the fact that both were top members of the Justice Lords, the young sorceress appeared rather indifferent to their presence. "I hope you have a good reason for ruining my door."

"Someone in your position has no right to speak to us like that." John Stewart replied angrily.

"Had you chosen to answer us immediately, perhaps we wouldn't have had to force our way into this oversized ruin." Hawkgirl snapped.

"Do you have any idea what I was doing?" Raven seethed angrily, her eyes flashing red for a moment. "Get out!"

With a wave of her hand, she summoned dozens of large birds comprised entirely of her dark energy, each with four glowing red eyes and sharp talons. They circled around overhead twice before descending upon her unwanted visitors like a pack of angry crows, but before they could even tough them a strange green glow exploded from within them, causing each of her conjured pets to disappear in a flash of lantern energy. Both of her guests looked equally upset that she had tried to attack them, but Raven responded by holding out her opposite hand and sending a wave of darkness at them.

"What the devil was that?" Green Lantern raised his ring and blocked her magic with his power.

"Magic…" Shayera answered with a confident smirk. "Lower that shield and get behind me."

He followed her orders and the blast of demonic energy vanished before it could even touch them, the power of her Nth Metal Mace having disrupted the flow of her magic and as a result it completely cancelled out the spell. Raven tried to use her powers, but the properties of the Thanagarian weapon rendered her abilities completely worthless when in range. Hawkgirl closed the gap by flying towards her and hit the young sorceress in the stomach with her mace, the strike causing her to fall from her meditation platform and onto the cold stone floor.

"Get up…" Shayera replied with a pitiless expression. "I only tapped you to disable your powers, you'll be fine in a minute."

Raven gasped in pain as she attempted to assault her attackers, but having been in direct contact with the weapon disrupted her entire being, and she was unable to cast any more spells with that accursed mace so physically close. "You wretch!" she hissed.

John Stewart came from behind her, creating a pair of floating green shackles comprised of lantern energy. They wrapped around her arms, pulling the young sorceress upwards and securing her against the nearby wall. "I suggest you listen or this might have to get ugly."

Hawkgirl pounded the mace against the wall only inches from her prisoner's head, although she was surprised when the half-demon did not even flinch. "While I would live an excuse to get rid of you, we've got an important mission handed down directly from Superman."

"I'm no puppet like the rest of you… What'll you say if I refuse this so-called mission?" the dark-clad witch retorted as if daring them to kill her.

"We're certain that you'll enjoy this particular mission." Green Lantern began his explanation with an uncharacteristically amused expression. "This mission is regarding an old friend of yours, and it's a good bet that you'll jump at the chance to see him again."

Raven glared at her two captors like a snake ready to strike. "Who are you talking about?"

"Garfield Logan… alias Beast Boy." The Thanagarian hero added with a relish.

The captured sorceress looked as though she had just been doused with ice water for a second, but once it had passed her lips curled upwards and she let out a feral growl. "What the Hell are you two imbeciles prattling on about now? That man died several years ago during the great purge, or have you both forgotten?"

Green Lantern released the binds that held her, dropping the prone woman so that she was lying at their feet on the ground. She groaned again, but he purposely ignored it. "This Beast Boy comes from an alternate timeline, meaning that technically he's the same guy."

"According our reports, he came from the Justice League's world through some type of anomaly, and you remember how heroes from that less-appealing timeline almost ruined this world. Therefore he could pose a threat to us I not sanctioned immediately." Shayera explained.

When the girl did not answer, John Stewart pushed the issue. "You are to join the search for this man and eliminate him on sight. This mission is not up for debate, and any attempt to do otherwise will be considered treason."

Raven was still trying to process what she had just learned when the silhouettes of her captors began to disappear. Looking up from her place on the floor, she watched as they departed from her lair. The Thanagarian flew upwards and smashed a hole in the roof, causing the light to shine into her citadel as her partner followed by enveloping his body with the ring's green energy, thus allowing him the ability to fly and limited invulnerability. He turned around one more time before exiting the building to address her.

"You've got three hours to report to the Watchtower for the mission briefing. If you refuse to appear, consider yourself terminated for lack of cooperation." He said before disappearing through the hole in the ceiling.

With these notions made clear, the young half-demon stood back up and ascended the stairs leading to her meditation platform. She limped slightly due to the assault on her person, although the pain was nothing compared to the chaos of her mind. The idea that her best friend was still alive was a source of much conflict, even if he was from a different strand of reality. She had researched such phenomena in the past, and it was quite intriguing.

A feeling of nostalgic sentimentality coursed through her being at the thought of see Beast Boy again, but she worked to shake the thought from her mind. After all, perhaps he did deserve to die for being too weak to avoid capture during the superhero genocide. She quickly rationalized this reason to hate him in an attempt to blot out the rush or emotions that came with this new knowledge, as it unsettled her.

"Human emotions are weakness!" she muttered with disgust.

Seconds later, her eyes shifted to her hands, seeing her pointed nails and the red marks on her skin. In that moment the feeling of doubt in her own past decisions returned again, but she couldn't have been wrong. It didn't make any sense after all, seeing how embracing her demonic powers had made her so much more powerful. In a world like this power was everything, and so she had ascended to a level far beyond anything that her weak human half was capable of achieving.

She was determined to hate him… Or at least she knew she should be. This thought made her doubts vanish again, but in that instant she suddenly felt overcome with an unnatural rage. It felt almost as if some force beyond her control was fostering her anger. She felt two extra glowing eyes force their way open on her forehead as this demonic power gushed through her being, and in that instant, it was all too clear what she had to do.

Over the years the pain of losing Beast Boy had caused her to hold onto a shred of the emotions that she had worked so hard to cast aside. Now was her chance to finally rid herself of that pain and suffering. To preserve this great power she had gained and finally complete her full transformation into a demon, all she needed to do was destroy this last link to her humanity, this time by her own hands. Instead of the pain of loss, she could experience the joy of gain!

The idea brought a demonic smile to her lips, but her joy quickly subsided as she realized what this would mean. She pushed the thoughts from her mind again, focusing only on the power she would obtain by doing this. Raven always felt as though there was something broken inside of her, but if she could block out her emotions and complete this task, the void would hopefully be filled at last.

Her hands trembled, although she could not understand if it was hesitation or joy that prompted this. Finding her center, the young sorceress settled down and found her voice. "For me to finally be complete, this nuisance must perish!"

Note to Readers: And here I was hoping to make this chapter shorter than the others… This was a little tiring to write. Again, sorry for any errors in spelling and grammar or any typos, but I usually type this story late at night. I hope you guys still enjoyed it! I really wanted to convey Earth 2 Raven's inner conflict towards the end, although I hope I have the scene the justice it deserves. Several major plot points happened in this chapter. If you miss the crew from Earth 1 then I plan on exploring what they're up to next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please **review** if you can. I would like to hear opinions, maybe if you like something in particular than mention your thoughts on it. Or if you have any story ideas I'm pretty open to suggestion.

Also, go ahead and cast a vote for the next story's plot through a review, assuming I ever finish this one and write another one for the Teen Titans. (Idea 1: In a direct sequel to this story, Earth 3 is discovered and the Titans must help stop the Crime Syndicate of America from destroying the entire universe as they traverse the DC multi-verse. Idea 2: Set directly after the Brotherhood was defeated, the Teen Titans find themselves fighting the Joker when the Clown Prince comes to Jump City to recruit a new gang of villains for his schemes.)


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